More than 8 inches of rain cause flash flooding overnight in Northeast Kingdom

Updated at 3:50 p.m.

Slow-moving storms dropped 3 to more than 8 inches of rain over parts of the Northeast Kingdom overnight, prompting the National Weather Service in Burlington to declare two separate flash flood emergencies near St. Johnsbury and Morgan.

Flood warnings remained active Tuesday morning for communities in Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties.

“Ten swiftwater rescue teams were dispatched to the area overnight and have conducted approximately two dozen rescues from flooded areas. Those teams are still in the area to respond to potential additional calls for assistance,” Vermont Emergency Management wrote in a press release Tuesday morning, referencing specifically Caledonia and Essex counties.

Pete Banacos, science and operations officer at the Burlington office, called the event “very localized,” unloading torrential rain for about 6 hours starting near midnight.

Observers noted 8.4 inches of rain just north of St. Johnsbury, more than 7 inches in Island Pond, over 6 inches in Morgan Center and almost 5.5 inches in East Burke.

Banacos called the precipitation “extreme.”

“Just off the charts to see that kind of rainfall in 6 hours,” he said.

In an interview Tuesday morning, St. Johnsbury Fire Chief Bradley Reed called the storm “without a doubt worse” than the July 10 flooding.

“Everything hit so fast, water rescue teams were en route but they hadn’t arrived yet,” he said.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, emergency responders couldn’t yet access parts of town due to road washouts and bridge failures, according to Reed. He said there was some overlap with the storm earlier this month, though some new areas were affected and other places were spared.

People in need of shelter should head to the St. Johnsbury Welcome Center, Reed said, adding that plans are underway for a longer-term shelter elsewhere.

St. Johnsbury residents were being asked to conserve water as of 11 a.m., according to VT-Alert, with water shut off to some parts of town.

In Lyndon, Fire Chief Jeff Corrow said he was taken by surprise when his pager went off around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.

“The smaller streams took it hard,” Corrow said, describing the flooding as “completely different” than that of July 10. “These things are like little ankle streams any other times of the day.”

A half dozen homes were destroyed, according to the fire chief, and the department recommended people living in about 20 others seek higher ground.

“The dark was our enemy to begin with. It’s hard to do what we do in the dark,” Corrow recalled. As of noon, some parts of town remained inaccessible to first responders.

“The next thing is getting these folks food, water and medicines they need out there,” Corrow said of those who were stranded.

The East Burke Fire Brigade assisted the Lyndonville Fire Department with about 10 evacuations Tuesday morning after flooding caused a 1,000 gallon underground propane tank to burst, according to the brigade’s chief, Josh Willey.

“One home was completely collapsed into the river,” he said.

The evacuations were due to the leak, and Willey said an urban search and rescue team surveyed the area to ensure there were no casualties.

Willey also said he was informed by the National Weather Service that the Passumpsic River was expected to crest almost 2 feet higher than during the flooding earlier this month. The crest was expected between roughly 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., he said.

To the north, in Brighton, the fire department performed two water rescues on Tuesday, including an incident in which water surrounded a car up to its windows, according to Katie Mientka, a library assistant at the Island Pond public library who handles the town’s social media.

Mientka said the flooding caused property damage, road damage and vehicle damage.

Many of the same communities experienced flood-related damage earlier this month , when a broader band of storms impacted central and northern Vermont.

New England 511 reported road closures in St. Johnsbury, East Burke, Brighton and Morgan.

Most of the damage from the early Tuesday morning storm occurred before dawn, according to Banacos, and was the result of flash flooding.

Today, “strong to locally severe” isolated thunderstorms are predicted, becoming more widespread in the evening, according to the weather service’s forecast, which noted, “the biggest concern is if thunderstorms travel over the same areas that received considerable to catastrophic flooding last night, then more flash flooding is possible.”

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