Major Flood In Southern Vermont

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Where to begin. Jane and I were in Utah when we got a report of flooding in Vermont. We turned on the national news and what we saw horrified us. A local resturant ,Dot’s had water rushing through it up to the roof line. As the footage rolled we saw that about six feet of water was rushing down West Main St,destroying buildings and vehicles. One person lost her life in this disaster. We knew we had to get home. We flew out the next day and made it home by taking a series of back roads and detours. I recieved a call from Mike Johnson from Wisconsin, the owner of The Dry Guys restoration company and a friend. He was coming to help us with two box trucks of equipment and 6 people. God bless him and his crew. They arrived Tuesday afternoon. Jane and I had an apartment that was vacant so they all moved in. They have been here for nine days now and I expect they will be here for about three more weeks, longer if they can stay. We will have mold and dryout work for months to come. Everyone has been working at least twelve hour days minimum. My son-in-law Dan Kenney arrived with his crew to help and they have been here for days. Dan owns Catamount Response of the Berkshires in Pittsfield Massachusetts. I could not have asked for a better son-in-law. He has two Dry Out Trailers which we are moving around town to dry out the larger buildings such as the Crafts Inn and the North Star Bowl. His crew has been incredible as well,demolishing the damaged structures and cleaning sludge and debris from homes,basements and crawl spaces. At one point in time there were about one hundred  plus volunteers in town helping with the removal of drywall,carpet and pad from the dwellings. The community has pulled together as one unit. I love Vermont. We will have a long uphill battle as many businesses had no flood insurance. They are counting on FEMA and VEMA to help. So far we have logged about 50 jobs and more come in every day. Unfortunately many second homeowners have not been up due to the destroyed infastructure. Many roads and bridges have been destroyed. Today a state of Vermont dump truck fell through the highway close to us because the road collapsed. I don’t think anyone was hurt but it is pretty scary driving around . The biggest challenge now are that the wet homes are growing mold and that will add a whole new dimension to the damage. I must call it a night now because tommorrow is going to be another long day. Peace Don Jones

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