The storm that poured the equivalent of Two months of rain on two days continued to wreak havoc in Vermont on Tuesday, causing multiple flooding in the state capital.
• Also read: “Historical” floods in the US Northeast
“Let’s say it’s a bit of an apocalypse, the flat country is flooded pretty much everywhere. The rivers have come out of their beds,” says Steve Mercier.
On Tuesday, as he does every day, the trucker from Saint-Eustache drove to Vermont to make a delivery. However, his usual route was more like a doomsday scene. Flooded, clogged or even completely destroyed roads forced him to take kilometers of detours.
“I’m going to New Hampshire in the morning, but of course I have to reckon with detours,” adds the trucker.
According to authorities, torrential rains that lasted two days caused even more damage than Tropical Storm Irene, which killed six people in Vermont in 2011. According to Governor Phil Scott, the damage is already in the tens of millions of dollars.
Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, was completely inundated by torrential rain this week. Portal
The torture continues
Even though the rain has stopped in some parts of the state, that doesn’t necessarily mean the flooding is over. Other rivers are still threatening to burst their banks.
A dam above Montpelier, the Vermont capital, could soon overflow and flow into downtown, where the water is already waist-deep.
“We’re not off the hook. “It’s far from over and at this stage we need to keep citizens safe before we can move into the recovery phase,” Gov. Scott said during a news briefing on Tuesday.
The rescue workers were also on duty to evacuate the residents with inflatable boats and kayaks. In total, more than a hundred people were rescued.
Nature is unleashed
Experts say this week’s flooding in Vermont is evidence of a particularly dangerous climate threat. Natural disasters can happen anywhere, with increasing frequency and almost without warning.
During prolonged flooding, rising temperatures allow the air to hold more moisture, leading to increasingly heavy and sudden precipitation. The consequences of these floods also appear to be worsening.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to adapt to these changing conditions. It’s just everywhere,” said researcher Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists in an interview with The Guardian.
The Democratic Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, also called on the population to mobilize in the fight against the climate catastrophes that “haunt us again and again”.