A second person has died in Vermont flooding from Hurricane Beryl’s remnants
PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) —
A second person has died in Vermont in the flooding from Hurricane Beryl’s remnants, officials said Thursday.
The driver was swept away in his vehicle by floodwaters Thursday morning in Lyndonville, Lt. Charles Winn of the Vermont State Police said. The driver ignored bystanders’ warnings to turn around and continued through the roadway, which was covered by several feet of moving water.
Authorities found the vehicle later in the day, Winn said. The driver’s body was recovered several hours later after floodwaters had receded. His name has not been released.
Another man, identified as Dylan Kempton, 33, was riding an all-terrain vehicle late Wednesday when it was swept away by floodwaters in Peacham, Vermont State Police said in a statement. His body was recovered Thursday morning.
The remnants of Hurricane Beryl dumped heavy rain on Vermont, washing away much of an apartment building, knocking out bridges and cutting off towns, and retraumatizing a state still recovering from catastrophic floods that hit a year ago to the day.
More than 100 people were rescued by swift-water teams during the worst of the rainfall, which started Wednesday and continued into Thursday, officials said. In Plainfield, residents of a six-unit apartment building had mere minutes to evacuate before water destroyed it, the town’s emergency management director said.
Stunned residents emerged Thursday to assess damage in a series of small towns along a hilly corridor on the Winooski River, connected mostly by U.S. Highway 2. Parts of the artery were closed, along with dozens of other roads. Shelters opened in several communities.
“It’s just mud everywhere,” said Art Edelstein, who assessed the destruction at a home he has owned for 50 years in Plainfield. “This is, in my impression, catastrophic. I’ve just never seen anything like this.”
The deluge dropped more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain on parts of Vermont, and the heaviest rainfall was in the same areas devastated on July 10, 2023, said Marlon Verasamy, of the National Weather Service in Burlington. Rivers had crested at virtually all locations by late Thursday afternoon.
“It’s not lost on any of us the irony of the flood falling on the one-year anniversary to the day when many towns were hit last year,” Gov. Phil Scott told reporters.
The towns hit hardest by Beryl’s rains lie east of the capital, Montpelier, which flooded last year but escaped serious damage this week.
In Plainfield, a concrete bridge that collapsed and tumbled downstream was likely responsible for ripping off part of an apartment building with five units, said Michael Billingsley, the town’s emergency management director.
The occupant of another home was pulled through a window to safety moments before it was swept downstream, and a mobile home floated away with four pets belonging to a family that narrowly escaped, he said.
Hilary Conant said she had to flee her apartment as the Great Brook rose, just as she did a year earlier.
“It’s like rewind to last year,” she said. “The water was coming up, so I knew it was time to leave with my dog. It’s very retraumatizing.” A neighbor offered a camper. She and her dog, Casper, sheltered Thursday at Goddard College, which opened dorm rooms to displaced residents.
Around the corner from her home was the apartment building that collapsed. The front still stood, but the rest was wrecked or gone. “It’s otherworldly,” she said. “It’s devastating.”