Category Archives: Tropical Storm Irene

MONTPELIER — A private fundraising group set up to help Vermonters recover from Tropical Storm Irene has paid out more than $2 million to flood victims.
There is another $2 million remaining in Vermont’s Long Term Disaster Relief Fund, but officials say they could still be short of the money required to meet the ongoing demand for assistance following last year’s flood.
So far, the fund has helped 195 applicants working to rebuild their homes and their lives after the storm.
Doug Bishop, the head of the fund’s allocation committee, says there are still several hundred cases being worked on throughout Vermont.
Bishop tells Vermont Public Radio that in some instances, case workers are just hearing from people seeking assistance.
The group is still actively fundraising.

CAVENDISH — Volunteers in the southern Vermont town of Cavendish are putting the finishing touches on reconstructing a mini Fenway Park that was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene.
Selectman Mark Huntley says Greven Field was destroyed when the Black River overflowed its banks and tore through the complex when Irene churned through Vermont in 2011.
After the town’s homes, businesses and roads were repaired, townspeople turned their attention to the field, a pint-size replica of the 100-year-old Fenway Park. The floodwaters destroyed the field, and its 16-foot-high Green Monster left-field wall was knocked over and covered with silt.
Huntley tells Vermont Public Radio the town is now transforming the field into a recreation center, with a volleyball net and a basketball court behind the reconstructed Green Monster.

For some, there will be block parties and parades. For others, a moment of silence. For still others it will be another day of struggling to clean up the mess.
A year after the remnants of Hurricane Irene unleashed the state’s worst flooding in recent memory, many Vermonters plan to pause on Tuesday and the days surrounding it to reflect on how far the state has come since the storm.
The biggest unifying event may be 30 seconds of bell-ringing Gov. Peter Shumlin has requested at churches and town halls for 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Landlocked Vermont suffered the worst damage along Irene’s trail of destruction, which left more than 65 people dead from the Caribbean to Canada. Among the most indelible images of Irene are cars tumbling in roiling waters and covered bridges crumbling against muddy waves.

ROCHESTER — Two dozen sets of human remains washed out of the ground by the remnants of Hurricane Irene sit at the edge of Rochester’s Woodlawn Cemetery, awaiting the work that will return them to the earth.
In locked concrete vaults impervious to the elements, the remains have been at the base of a wooded hill since they were collected from the open air after Irene hit Aug. 28, 2011, and turned the tiny Nason Brook into a raging river, digging into the bank at the back of the cemetery and washing out 50 graves.
More than two dozen sets of remains are still missing, washed downstream into the White River.
Sue Flewelling, of the Rochester Cemetery, is determined to see remains reinterred as close as possible to where they were first buried. The town is waiting on bids from contractors who will finish closing the gaping hole left by Irene, making it possible for the vaults to be reburied.
“If we’re lucky, we can get the ones that we have reinterred by the end of October,” Flewelling said.
She still doesn’t know how much it will cost to repair the cemetery. The town is expected to award a contract for the repairs within the next few days. Work is supposed to be done by Oct. 1.

PITTSFIELD — A Vermont filmmaker has put together a documentary of how Tropical Storm Irene has affected her town.
Marion Abrams has filmed recovery efforts from last year’s storm and flooding in Pittsfield.
Vermont Public Television is broadcasting the hour-long film, “Flood Bound.”
Abrams said something amazing happened after Irene hammered her town. Residents helped each other out by schooling children, cutting hair, cooking, teaching yoga, and other services.
She told Vermont Public radio she wanted people to understand and see how people faced their fears and came together.

MONTPELIER — Gov. Peter Shumlin plans over four days to visit 22 Vermont communities impacted by Tropical Storm Irene to mark the anniversary of the storm.
Shumlin on Tuesday announced events that will be held to celebrate Vermont’s recovery from the flooding on Aug. 28, 2011, and to acknowledge that more work needs to be done.
A free statewide event will be held on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, with music, storm videos, artwork and photography.
Shumlin also is asking churches and town halls to participate in a statewide bell ringing for 30 seconds, starting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 28.
For a list of other events and information on the recovery, visit www.vtstrong.vermont.gov.