Devastating floods batter Vermont as water levels continue to rise
Some 117 rescues have been made in Vermont amid extreme flooding, public officials said on Tuesday, with 67 people evacuated from homes, businesses and vehicles and 17 animals rescued.
The city of Montpelier warned that a dam near the state capital is dangerously close to capacity. However, water levels appeared to stabilise by night.
“It looks like it won’t breach,” Montpelier town manager Bill Fraser said. “That is good. That is one less thing we have to have on our front burner.”
Officials had earlier warned that with “very few evacuation options remaining”, people in at-risk areas in the Montpelier area may wish to go to upper floors in their houses.
Other Northeast regions are beginning to survey what is expected to be a long and expensive recovery from the extreme downpours which NY Governor Kathy Hochul declared it a “1-in-1,000-year weather event” caused by the climate crisis.
One woman died in New York after she was swept away in floodwaters while trying to escape her home with her dog.
