Not again!

On Thursday here in Arlington and the surrounding towns of Manchester, Sandgate & Sunderland were hit with flash flooding from all the torrential rain. 

Thursday evening, it was raining so hard I didn’t think it could have rained harder. We received flash flood warnings all day, but they never prepare you for when it really happens. 

On August 28, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene ripped through Vermont, leaving parts of our state totally devastated. Floods washed away roads, bridges, farms, homes, people’s personal items that can’t be replaced and changed some of the Vermont landscape forever. 

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The storm left people stranded and took 56 people’s lives, along with so much destruction that it took 18 months in some areas to recover. People were without power for days on end. Some areas will still never be the same. 

The flash flooding that occurred here on Thursday night was a scary reminder to many people. I read on Facebook that a friend could hear boulders rolling down the river like during Irene. That’s a sound you never forget!

In this storm, many roads were completely washed away, basements and businesses flooded, and items from people’s back yards were swept away by the strong currents of the raging river that crested on properties along the river. 

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My friend Ann from NJ was camping right here in Arlington was told they had to evacuate to higher ground at 11:30 pm. She told me how scary it was with no plan in place or how to move everything so quickly in the pitch dark. It was a complete “shitshow,” she said. Can you tell we are friends? Lol!

Families with children were breaking down their campsites in water up to their knees and were worried about the electrical hookups at all the campsites. I’m told the electric hookups have GFCI meaning the power will shut off in emergencies; all of the electrical at the campground had to be redone after Tropical Storm Irene. That is indeed terrific; however,  the poor people who were panicking while packing up didn’t know that at the time…plus, as I mentioned, they were doing this in the pitch dark.

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The thing that always makes me proud of our community during disastrous situations is that everyone helps each other any way they can. Marty helped pull a friend’s camper and van out of the rising floodwater on Friday afternoon. He saw our friend Jeff needed help on Facebook and didn’t think twice about racing down there. 

After the storm, we had gorgeous weather on Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night. We took a walk yesterday to see how high the water still was; the river started to recede. Our little golf course in town looked like a lake on Friday, but yesterday the water was gone, but the area was wet and muddy with a few trout that washed up on land. 

This morning we received more flash flooding warnings. My sister Jennifer and her kids, who were visiting for the weekend, left early because more heavy rain was heading our way. It was a good idea she left when she did because she hit traffic on her way back to NJ. A real shocker, I know! Sundays are usually a mass exodus out of VT and down the NY State Thruway as it is, but people were heading out sooner than later. 

Right now, we are sitting on our front porch while it’s raining again, listening to thunder off in the distance. Poor Otto is scared, shitless, shaking uncontrollably.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the rain isn’t as bad as the other night; everything that has been temporarily repaired would get washed away again.  My friend Ann and her husband, who were camping, just drove by with their camper and decided to cut their losses and go home a day early. They wouldn’t have gotten any sleep if they stayed, and it’s supposed to rain more tomorrow anyway.

Nature’s fury is no joke and scary, especially when you already know and have seen how ravaging it can be.