- Title: Vermont residents speak about flood damage after capital is submerged
- Date: 12th July 2023
- Summary: NEAR BURLINGTON, VERMONT, UNITED STATES (JULY 11, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS AERIALS OF FLOODED AREAS MONTPELIER, VERMONT, UNITED STATES (JULY 11, 2023) (REUTERS) FLOOD WATERS / FLOODED AREA DEBRIS IN FLOOD WATERS WATER FLOWING DOWN STREET NEAR BUILDINGS FLOOD WATERS PARTIALLY SUBMERGED BRIDGE COUPLE, ALEXIS ABTS AND JESSE REEDER, PUSHING THEIR DAUGHTER IN A PRAM DOWN A PARTIALLY FLOODED STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONTPELIER RESIDENTS, ALEXIS ABTS AND JESSE REEDER, SAYING: ABTS: “It was very horrible, actually. And making it home was terrifying. We actually, we live on that hill up there, past Shaw’s [spelling unclear] and going up it there's a whole river going down with logs. It was just…†REEDER: “It's different for me because I'm not from these parts. I'm from New York, so we don't get a lot of this. So it was, it was a new thing to go through.†MAN RIDING BICYLE DOWN FLOODED STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONTPELIER RESIDENTS, ALEXIS ABTS AND JESSE REEDER, SAYING: ABTS: [Asked what she was most concerned about] “I was more concerned about my daughter or our daughter and getting her home safely.†REEDER: “Yeah. And like, everything shutting down, like how people could survive out here without any of this open. So that's one of my biggest concerns. We went grocery shopping like three days before, which I'm glad we did.†REFLECTION OF CLOCK TOWER IN FLOOD WATERS / BUILDING WITH CLOCK TOWER PERSON RIDING BIKE ALONG PARTIALLY FLOODED SHOPPING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONTPELIER RESIDENT, SALIKA SADEK, SAYING: “It's, you get a flash warning on your phone and you're like, okay, this, you know, happens so many notifications, it's not that big of a deal. And we've been getting flood warnings for the past few weeks with all the rain we've been getting. So that's what I was expecting. And then someone knocked on our door and was like, ‘you need to move your car’, thankfully. And so, we had time to get the car out. And then afterwards, as you said, going downtown, just realizing that you had water up to here was absolutely insane. And it's really unlike any other event I've ever lived through.†PERSON WALKING PAST FLOOD WATERS IN FRONT OF SHOP CALLED ‘SPLASH’ SANDBAGS PLACED OUTSIDE OF SHOP ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE)(English) MONTPELIER RESIDENT, AUGUST VITZTHUM, SAYING: “[Asked how he feels] Oh, yeah, really bad for all the businesses, mainly, all the people that are experiencing property, property damage. I mean, I know economically things haven't really been the greatest for a lot of people right now. And I think, unfortunately, this could be kind of a breaking point for a lot of people financially.†SHOP ENTRANCE PEOPLE PUTTING SHOP GOODS AWAY IN FLOOD DAMAGED SHOP MUDDY FLOOR IN SHOP TO VOLUNTEER, EMILY HAWES, MOPPING MOPPING (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESIDENT OF NEARBY TOWN OF BARRE, VERMONT, EMILY HAWES, WHO VOLUNTEERED TO HELP MOP UP STORE, SAYING: “We were fortunate to have a good tribe and a good group of folks who are going to come and assist us, and they've already started showing up. And that's, you know, that's what Montpelier is, so…†HAWES MOPPING HAWES MOPPING UP FROM FLOOD DAMAGE PERSON WALKING THROUGH DAMAGED STORE FLOOD WATERS / FIRETRUCKS FIRETRUCKS IN BACKGROUND WITH FLOOD WATERS IN FOREGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) OWNER OF THE QUIRKY PET IN MONTPELIER, CINDRA CONISON, [STANDING WITH OWNER OF VERMONT DOG EATS, ELISA GARCIA-REY] SAYING: “I'm, I'm crying. My entire store is upended. My freezers are all over the place. The stock that I had up three feet is now all over the floor. The stuff that I had up four feet and higher is fine. Small refrigerators upended all my… everything is ruined. And I would doubt on my insurance if I have flood insurance, but I hopefully I have like some other type of business liability. But I have a strong group of friends who are going to help me clean up.†(SOUNDBITE) (English) OWNER OF VERMONT DOG EATS, ELISA GARCIA-REY, SAYING: “I was able to get some of my things off of the floor, but a lot of it just got upended and thrown around by the water. So there's a lot of loss and damage and right now it's just, this is the first time I've been in the space. I’ve only been here for about half an hour, so I'm just assessing everything. But yeah, it's really hard to take. And I think it's worse than what we were all expecting.†GARCIA-REY WALKING THROUGH HER STORE, VERMONT DOG EATS, EXPLAINING DAMAGE FROM FLOOD CONISON, IN FRONT OF HER SHOP, EXPLAINING FLOOD DAMAGE, SAYING: ' "So, when we came last night, the water was up to here.'' CONISON OPENING DOOR TO HER SHOP, THE QUIRKY PET, AND SHOWING DAMAGED INTERIOR CONISON SHOWING DAMAGE TO FRONT OF STORE CONISON SHOWING DAMAGED BIRD CAGES, SAYING: “My birds are okay, but if you see, it [the water] got into the cage.†CONISON WALKING THROUGH SHOP SHOWING DAMAGE BENCH AND MAILBOX IN FRONT OF SHOP FRONTS ON FLOODED STREET SHOPS ON FLOODED STREET
- Embargoed: 26th July 2023 02:51
- Keywords: Montpelier Vermont Vermont capital Wrightsville Dam flooding
- Location: MONTPELIER & NEAR BURLINGTON, VERMONT, UNITED STATES
- City: MONTPELIER & NEAR BURLINGTON, VERMONT, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001635911072023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Vermont residents and business owners were assessing the damage on Tuesday (July 11) after “catastrophic†flooding submerged parts of the state’s capital, Montpelier, shutting down roadways leading out of the city and trapping people in their homes.
Vermont officials called the flooding the worst since Hurricane Irene reached the New England state as a tropical storm in 2011 and caused about $750 million in damages and seven deaths in the state.
Streets and shops were inundated, and residents said they were shocked at how quickly the flood waters rose. Shop owners mopped up the damage and assessed the financial cost of the floods.
Throughout the state, search teams have rescued 117 people from their homes and cars by swift boat, as officials fielded calls that even more people were trapped in their homes in remote areas, officials said.
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