LYNDON, Vt. (AP) 鈥 Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in northeastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.
Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8 inches (15 to more than 20 centimeters) starting late the night before.
In Lyndonville, a village about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Montpelier, the state capital, Deryck Colburn said he awoke before daybreak to a neighbor pounding on his door. Colburn said he heard the same surge of rushing water from an overflowing brook that he鈥檇 heard earlier in July, along with the unnerving sound of tumbling boulders carried by the water.
鈥淚 went down the road to her house, and there was no road. There was just a river,鈥 he said.
The fresh flooding yielded similar scenes of catastrophe to the flooding weeks earlier, but on a smaller scale. Cars and trucks were smashed and covered in mud; several homes were destroyed and pushed downstream; utility poles and power lines were knocked down; and asphalt roads yielded to cliffs in spots where roadbeds were carved away.
Most of the rain fell in the Lyndon and Lyndonville areas, and in St. Johnsbury, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south. Police issued a 鈥渟helter in place鈥 advisory Tuesday morning for St. Johnsbury, a town of about 6,000 people. At least 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain fell farther north in area of Morgan, which is near the Canada border.
Mark Bosma, a spokesperson for the Vermont Emergency Management Agency, said swift water rescue teams in boats conducted approximately two dozen rescues in the dark in the hardest-hit areas late Monday and early Tuesday.
Some neighbors had to rescue themselves.
In Lyndonville, Jason Pilbin said he woke up at about 2:30 a.m. to boulders rolling down the road, propelled by heavy floodwaters. He went outside with a headlamp and flashlight to help some neighbors evacuate and then collected their vital medications about 20 minutes before the house broke in half. Then he woke up another neighbor and helped her exit her home, as well.
Pilbin said he was relieved to be able to help neighbors this time after watching helplessly as a man drowned in floodwaters earlier this month. 鈥淯nfortunately I wasn't able to save him, but I was able to save these" people, Pilbin said. 鈥淚 guess that makes up for some of it. It's been rough.鈥
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or deaths for this round of flooding.
In St. Johnsbury, Vanessa Allen said she knew there was a possibility of rain, but wasn鈥檛 counting on the excessive amount.
鈥淭his is devastating and was completely unexpected,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 had no idea this was coming.鈥
Her home was situated between two road washouts, so she was unable to leave. The roads were pockmarked and covered in debris. Nearby, she said, a house was off its foundation and blocking a road.
鈥淚t looks apocalyptic. There are huge craters. ... And the water is still rushing down the road now,鈥 she said at midday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just all unbelievable how bad the roads are. We鈥檙e trapped. We can鈥檛 go anywhere.鈥
The state experienced from the tail end of Hurricane Beryl. The flooding destroyed roads and bridges and inundated farms. It came exactly a year after a of severe flooding hit Vermont and several other states.
Vermont has experienced four flooding events in the last year, due to a combination of and the state鈥檚 mountainous geography, said Peter Banacos, science and operations officer with the weather service. Greater rainfall have made the state and its steep terrain more susceptible to flooding, he said.
The state鈥檚 soil has also been more frequently saturated, and that increases the possibility of flooding, Bancos said.
Vermont鈥檚 history of heavily manipulating its rivers and streams also plays a role in increased flooding, said Julie Moore, secretary of the state Agency of Natural Resources. Increased flooding is 鈥渁 reflection of having reached our limits of being able to truly manage rivers and hold them in place,鈥 she continued.
Roads, bridges, culverts and wastewater facilities are all especially vulnerable, Moore said. The state is in the midst of a multidecade effort to 鈥渞eplace them or refurbish them with our current and future climate in mind,鈥 Moore said.
Vermont is also working to establish statewide .
In Lyndonville, Colburn said some of his neighbors鈥 homes on his road 鈥渨ashed away鈥 during this storm but that the occupants were rescued. The emergency management agency did not have further information.
鈥淭he last storm was a wake-up call,鈥 he said of the flooding earlier this month. 鈥淚 thought I would never see anything like that again. I don鈥檛 think that holds a candle to this. Not even close.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of broken hearts,鈥 he added.
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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Reporters Patrick Whittle in Maine and Julie Walker in New York also contributed to this story.
