July flood 2.0: ‘It’s bigger’

July 17, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti

For the third time in a year, Waterbury’s municipal building is ground zero for flood response and recovery activities with the community effort to clean up after last week’s severe storm and flooding in full swing. Volunteers are fanning out throughout the community and to homes in neighboring towns as well. Meanwhile, town officials are tallying up damage to local roads on a scale far beyond both of the 2023 floods combined.

Volunteers arrive for assignments at the municipal building. Photo courtesy of CReW

The Winooski River one week ago crested at just under 425 feet – a foot higher than the December 18 flood last year and a foot lower than the July 10-11, 2023, flood. The U.S. National Weather Service logged some 5 inches of rain that not only caused the Winooski River and local streams to overflow, but downpours during the storm blasted local gravel roads causing a new level of widespread damage to roads, culverts and bridges around the region. 

Waterbury currently has two roads with sections closed off due to washouts and culvert failures – the southern end of Gregg Hill Road and “the dip” in the middle of Shaw Mansion Road, both in Waterbury Center. Both closures affect local traffic patterns but residents can still come and go from alternate accesses to both roads. 

Town Manager Tom Leitz said Wednesday that the latest working estimate for road repairs is approaching $400,000. This includes the closed road sections plus damage on Stowe Street, at the Laurel Road bridge, Henry Hough Road and a myriad of other smaller washouts and ruts. Gregg Hill Road, for example, will be one of the larger repairs involving a culvert replacement, likely with a structure larger than what failed, Leitz told the Select Board on Monday. That alone will likely cost around $150,000 and will require a contractor separate from the town road crew. 

“Assume Gregg Hill is going to be closed for awhile,” he said. 

The Gregg Hill Road culvert washout and collapse will require a significant repair. Photo by Gordon Miller

A topic for a future meeting may be to discuss whether and how to repair Shaw Mansion Road and if a different configuration may be considered such as closing the middle section and creating two dead-end roads, exploring a bridge, or some other design rather than the steep grade with a stream going through a culvert. 

Public Works Director Bill Woodruff said engineers have inspected all town bridges and they were deemed OK. The Laurel Road bridge needs attention along its bank and along the water line that it carries, he said. That project is already in progress this week. 

Woodruff said he’s met with the regional Agency of Transportation officials to communicate road work needed so that Waterbury’s projects are included in the tally the state is making of overall infrastructure damage to support a request for federal disaster relief funding. 

Volunteers take a break helping Union Street homeowner Eric Gross dig out from a third flood in a year. Photo courtesy of CReW

More flooded homes this year 

Meanwhile Waterbury this year has a long-term flood recovery organization in place that it did not have in July 2023.  Called “CReW” for short, Commuinity Resilience for the Waterbury Area was formed last summer as an official entity to assist homeowners, residents and business owners after a flood. Its service area encompasses Waterbury, Duxbury, Bolton, Moretown and Middlesex. 

When last week’s flooding hit, CReW volunteers were still working with property owners affected by last year’s floods as they navigate potential work to their properties to make them more resilient to flood events in the future such as elevating electrical panels out of basements, finding new locations for furnaces, or pursuing projects to elevate their homes through a state and federal program. 

For many, long-term planning now takes a back seat to cleaning up and drying once again. To that end, the volunteer effort now is focused on the dozens of homes that were flooded, assisting property owners to get basements dried out, and soon deploying volunteers to assist with mold-prevention steps. 

Since Friday, the Steele Community Room has been the volunteer headquarters with supplies, equipment, lists, and plenty of snacks for those helping mucking out basements and in some cases, first floors. 

At Monday’s Select Board meeting, CReW Vice Chair Liz Schlegel reported on the effort to date. Virtually all of the homes flooded in Waterbury in 2023 from South Main Street to Randall and Elm streets, to U.S. Route 2 experienced flooding last week, she said. 

Given that this flood came so soon after two others, there appears to be less damage to personal belongings because basements contained fewer items and residents moved important things, she said. In some cases, homeowners also had already moved their electrical boxes from basements so that damage was avoided, she said.  

In addition to the properties now flooded for the third time in a year, CReW so far has heard from owners of approximately 40 other homes that have experienced flooding for the first time including homes on Lincoln Street and in areas in Waterbury Center where streams overflowed and runoff flooded basements and washed out driveways. 

The working estimate so far is 200-250 homes affected in Waterbury alone. “So for us, it’s bigger,” she said. 

In addition, the focus of CReW now reaches other nearby communities and reports are coming in from affected property owners beyond Waterbury, she said. Once volunteers connect with those in other communities, Schlegel said she expects there will be upwards of 400 homes needing cleanup and recovery assistance.  

Last week Waterbury homeowners had help from several vactor “mud-sucking” trucks loaned by St. Albans and South Burlington. The trucks can siphon mud and water from basements in a fraction of the time that people with shovels and buckets can clear it. Heat and humidity is making it a challenge to get the affected basements dry, Schlegel said. CReW has some commercial-grade dehumidifiers and shop vacs but would appreciate any loaner equipment local residents may be able to spare, she added. 

Since last Thursday, CReW has deployed over 300 volunteers to assist with cleanup and canvassing, Schlegel said, some working multiple days. Meanwhile, Waterbury Rotary Club members are providing meals for volunteers and flood-affected residents daily working with local restaurants and volunteers, she noted. 

Throughout this cleanup effort, however, town officials and the response organizers stress that anyone with damage due to the flood report it to the state’s 211 system: homeowners, business owners, renters. This includes damage to homes, structures and even driveways. It is these reports that will be considered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to decide whether to provide individual disaster recovery assistance, officials explained. This determination is separate from the FEMA disaster declarations that provide state and local governments with disaster recovery funds for repair to public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water treatment plants. 

“We need to get more people to report,” Schlegel said.

And while the aftermath of July 11, 2024 may greatly resemble the aftermath of last year’s July 11 flood, Schlegel pointed out one specific difference: “A lot of people are ready to talk about next steps,” she said. 

A drone shot early Thursday morning, July 11, over Waterbury shows the cornfield between the Winooski River and Randall Street. Photo by Gordon Miller

Special Select Board meeting July 29

For community members following Front Porch Forum, letters in the Roundabout Opinion section and on social media, the conversation about mitigation and large-scale projects is gaining traction. 

A letter directed to state and town officials from Randall Street resident Brian Kravitz who has dug out and cleaned up from four floods since Irene in 2011, has sparked much conversation. Kravitz’ duplex backs up to the state-owned cornfield that sits between the Winooski River and his neighborhood. He points out that when floodwaters were at their peak last week, some corn was submerged, but a section in the center of the field was visible above the muddy water. 

After Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, a study for the state suggested a mitigation effort in Waterbury that would have excavated the field to create more room for the river in future floods. The state of Vermont in redeveloping the State Office Complex did some such remediation near the offices which in 2023 and last week fared well without significant flooding beyond the parking lots. 

“I implore our local and state officials to look at the cornfield today. You'll see crushed corn along the perimeter, yet no damage to most of the middle. The field has a crown that is actually higher than properties along Randall Street,” Kravitz writes. “Doing something with that cornfield will have a significantly positive effect on our town… They've been doing this type of mitigation since ancient Mesopotamia, and it works.”

Town officials since last July have been eyeing the cornfield and its potential to play a role in protecting developed property in the downtown. 

Before the July 11 flood, the Waterbury Select Board already had July 29 – the fifth Monday of the month – on its radar to schedule an extra meeting to discuss flood mitigation projects.

Leitz said the state has a mid-August deadline for initial grant proposals from municipalities around Vermont as precursors to full applications for federal funding the state will allocate. The idea is for communities to brainstorm and suggest projects to build resilience against future floods. 

On Monday, Leitz ticked through a list of about 10 proposals already on that list and the cornfield is at the top. Some other items? Modifications to the system of gravity-fed storm drains that fill with river water in a flood, essentially siphoning floodwater into the downtown; installing additional culverts between Interstate 89 and the neighborhood along U.S. Route 2; improvements at the wastewater plant to protect it during times of extraordinary volumes; adjustments to HVAC equipment outside of the municipal building to lift it higher above the floodplain to ensure the building’s heating and cooling systems aren’t damaged in a future flood; centrally controlled electronic smartmeters for municipal water customers that could be shut off during a flood emergency.  

Leitz told the board his list was a start. The board hopes community members will attend to brainstorm and discuss ideas that could be submitted for grant funding. That meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Main Street fire station. 

IMPORTANT FLOOD-RECOVERY LINKS

The Waterbury town website has a flood resources page. The link to it also is at the top of the homepage, waterburyvt.com. The page has a Google document that is updated daily with new information including signups for volunteers. 

CReW website: thecrewvt.org

Bottled water outside the town office for volunteers and those whose wells were flooded. Photo courtesy of CReW

Report damage to Vermont 211

Request local assistance:  Residents in Waterbury, Duxbury, Bolton, Moretown and Middlesex should contact CReW via email at outreach@thecrewvt.org or by calling 802-585-1152 (a message line, they will return your call) or fill out this online form. 

How to volunteer: CReW is creating online signups every few days. Links to those can be found on the town website document and also on the CReW Facebook and Instagram accounts. The current signup through Thursday, July 18 is here. Also, anyone wishing to assist can just report to the municipal building. Volunteers can work shifts based on their availability between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Organizers ask that people come prepared to get dirty; trucks are in need. 

Other helpful information: The resource document on the town website has links and information from the Waterbury Area Good Neighbor Fund for emergency financial assistance, grants from the Vermont Realtors Association, Waterbury Common Market (formerly the food shelf) hours; links on best practices for flood cleanup and mold remediation.

Beware of contractor fraud

Volunteer coordinators pass along a caution to anyone looking to hire contractors to be sure to get written estimates, written contracts and check references and contractors’ insurance. Most service providers are reputable but there have been instances reported of fraudulent activity. 

Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas on Wednesday issued a bulletin to notify Vermonters about the resources her office has regarding contractor regulation and information. State law requires residential contractors who do projects over $10,000 (labor and materials) to register with the state. An interactive map displays those registered. The state’s Office of Professional Regulation has a Find a Professional webpage and a homeowner resource page. 

“It’s always a good idea for consumers to do their homework when hiring a contractor,” said Copeland Hanzas. “Good practices include checking a contractor’s registration with us, getting references, ensuring the business is insured, and putting any agreement in writing before work starts.”

Registered residential contractors are required to have a contract in place before starting work and demonstrate they have insurance. The Vermont Attorney General’s office also has a Home Improvement Fraud Registry as a tool to research contractors and a Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) for consumers to file a complaint or report a scam.

Mental health resources

Washington County Mental Health has ongoing short-term counseling available as part of its flood-response effort. CReW has information on the program that provides 3-5 sessions free of charge. Counselors are available to work one-on-one, with families, small groups, etc. Heather Slayton from the agency attended this week’s select board meeting to briefly explain the program and share its contact phone: 802-229-0591. “We want to make sure people know we’re here,” she said.