WATERBURY — Street cleaners went to work Tuesday morning under clearing skies as water in the Winooski River and other local brooks and streams receded. Residents and business owners began what has become a familiar task of assessing the impact of the latest flooding event to hit central Vermont.
Schools in the Harwood district remained closed for the second day as road crews tended to storm damage that would impact school bus routes. School officials anticipate reopening Wednesday for an abbreviated week that ends in a half day Friday before the holiday break. It was unclear as of Tuesday afternoon what the plan would be for Moretown Elementary School, however, which saw extensive flooding throughout its ground floor classrooms on Monday. An announcement was expected from the school district late in the day.
The Waterbury Select Board started off the day with an emergency meeting to discuss flood response efforts for the second time in five months.
The 5:15 a.m. flood gauge reading for the Winooski at Waterbury was 419.58 feet, down from a high of 424.39 feet around 9 p.m. Monday. By comparison, the July 11 flood registered a crest of 426.22 feet.
Public Works Director Bill Woodruff reported that all town roads were reopened by 4 a.m. Crews Tuesday morning were out sweeping roads and clearing debris downtown. In other areas of town, gravel roads will need some attention due to rain damage similar to mud season, he said. The section of Winooski Street near the bridge over the Winooski River has some damage with asphalt buckling, Woodruff told the board. That area was washed out in the July flooding and was rebuilt. Some repairs will be needed there, he said, but the road is fine for travel.
Bridges over brooks were inundated by high water but appear to not have sustained damage, Woodruff said. He referred to the bridges on Armory Drive, Union Street and North Main Street in particular. A contractor will be contacted to inspect them carefully, he added.
Woodruff said two vehicles that stalled and were stuck in floodwaters near the roundabout overnight Monday were towed early Tuesday morning.
The municipal water and wastewater systems held up under extreme conditions with some accommodations for the high water levels, Woodruff reported. The water system experienced no significant issues and customers do not need to take any precautions regarding water use. The wastewater treatment plant received “eight to nine times its normal flow” on Monday, he continued. As a result, bypass pumping to process the large volume of river and rainwater coming through the system was done, he said.
Overall, the infrastructure held up, Woodruff noted.
Crews from Stowe Mountain Rescue and the Vermont National Guard were in Waterbury on Monday into the overnight hours to assist with any rescue calls that may have come in. They helped with two rescues where people drove into standing water on North Main Street near Dac Rowe Park late Monday afternoon and later Monday evening on U.S. Route 2 near Farr’s Field.
The earlier call involved an 81-year-old man driving a small Honda into deep water on North Main Street. The car became stuck and the Stowe crew assisted the driver out of the water to a waiting rescue pickup that was running and warm. Waterbury Ambulance Service responded as well to evaluate the driver. Rescue crew members said the man was not seriously harmed but was wet and cold. He did not go to the hospital, according to first responders.
The later incident was similar according to Stowe crew leader Drew Clymer. In that case, the driver was transported by Waterbury Ambulance to be evaluated at the hospital for hypothermia.
Clymer noted that unlike in the July flood, “This water is very cold.” Hypothermia can set in quickly making the advice to not attempt to drive through standing water even more critical. “We’re not here to judge,” Clymer said. “We’re here to help.”
Volunteer efforts began Monday during the storm as coordinators turned to lists from July to check in with local residents whose homes were damaged by the summer flood. That was to continue Tuesday with door-to-door visits to assess needs.
Liz Schlegel is an organizer with the newly formed long-term flood recovery group called CReW.
She referred volunteers to an online signup on the town website waterburyvt.com with instructions to meet at the municipal offices at noon for assignments. The signup will be used to coordinate volunteers for tasks in the days ahead as well.
Schlegel said the effort has already heard from about two dozen property owners requesting assistance. “We know there’s more,” she said. “We’re going to try to get to folks as fast as we can.”
In the coming days and weeks, volunteers will be scheduled to help with moving items out of basements, cleanup and eventually for mold remediation. Dumpsters were also ordered to be delivered to neighborhoods for disposal of damaged items and building materials.
Municipal Manager Tom Leitz said a priority will be to arrange for a vactor crew from another municipality to come to help suction mud from basements. Several such trucks and crews visited Waterbury in July to assist with the cleanout from the July 11 flood. The powerful “mud-sucking” equipment cut muck-out time to a fraction of what people and shovels could have accomplished.
For many, the routine is very familiar. “Some houses we’ve been working at just got re-damaged,” Schlegel said.
The Waterbury Select Board will hold another special meeting on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the town offices in person and via Zoom to assess the flood response efforts.
Next door in Duxbury, the Winooski River rose but fell short of flooding residences or the River Branch Community School preschool and child care, which also has ground-level apartments. Chelsea Bardot Lewis from the school’s board of directors said the flood waters filled the school’s property, which will need playground cleanup and new mulch but the building was untouched.
River Road in Duxbury was less fortunate. The key artery connecting north and south Duxbury with access to Waterbury and west to Bolton was partially closed on Monday due to a culvert failure, Select Board Chair Richard Charland said.
On Tuesday, road crews headed out to grade the road after the storm damage and the highway foreman discovered a large sinkhole had opened up in an area near the Green Mountain Power dam. The road was closed immediately.
Work to repair the sinkhole was underway Tuesday and plans are in place now for two new culverts on River Road. Installation will happen Wednesday and Thursday, Charland said. Elsewhere in town just one road had a significant washout that has limited it to one-lane local-traffic access only until it can be repaired. Fair weather forecasts for a few days are a help, Charland said, hopefully giving crews time to grade and smooth out mud season-sized ruts before they freeze.
“Once again, Duxbury fared very well given the torrential conditions we encountered,” he said.
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