(Bethel, Vermont) http://www.vpr.net/episode/51922/
This is just one of the many homes that were destroyed due to strong winds and massive flooding caused by hurricane Irene. The hurricane caused Vermont’s worst flooding in 80 years of history. There were several people killed and others swept away by the floods. Several historic covered bridges and modern structures were washed away with the near record 7 inches of water that was produced just in one day. More than a dozen towns were cut off and the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury was evacuating patients due to the high threats of the flooding. State workers in Waterbury had to move to other locations for work and many are working from home for the time being. Most everyone from the Department of Environmental Conservation are located at VSAC in Winooski.
This is a link to some of the massive destruction throughout the state: http://www.mansfieldheliflight.com/flood/
A group from our office went down to Waterbury on Friday to volunteer at the church. We sorted food for the food shelf and helped prepare food for meals at the church. They were serving food to volunteers that were helping with the clean-up of homes. There was a lot of destroyed furniture along the sidewalks in Waterbury from the aftermath of the storm, however progress is looking good for the town at this point. This is a very sad time for many in Vermont. In the Burlington area, we were very fortunate to have gotten hit mildly by Irene. Everyone should do something to contribute to areas of our state that were effected by this because wouldn’t you want others to help if you were in this situation?
Here is a link to a blog where you can see areas of Vermont that are looking for volunteers, or if you or someone you know is in need of help you can request that here as well! http://vtresponse.wordpress.com/
!! Blog It !! 