High waters imperil homes, infrastructure in Starksboro and Huntington

In Starksboro, the Hollow Brook typically flows at the edges of the Lazy Brook manufactured home park, but on Thursday morning, the storm had redirected it.

Instead, water flowed directly under and around the park. A woman stood on her porch, smoking a cigarette and watching the water flow all around, but not inside, the structure where she stood.

Roy Catella, a resident of the park for more than 50 years, came by to offer help, but she answered that she and her family were faring alright. She declined to speak with a reporter.

Hers appeared to be the only home in the park significantly impacted by floodwaters.

“I don’t like to see somebody else’s place destroyed,” Catella said.

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Catella said the park has had only one serious flood in the time he’s lived there.

“You ain’t going to beat Mother Nature anyway,” he said.

Chris Whittaker, another resident at Lazy Brook, said members of the community gathered the night before to watch the floodwaters, wondering if it would impact other homes. Whittaker said he was up until 1 a.m., waiting to see what would happen.

Nearby, in Huntington, high waters have made several homes uninhabitable, according to Adam Argo, the town administrator. Basements have flooded, roads have washed out and bridges are compromised.

Argo estimates that the damage is more than $1 million to town infrastructure — about half of the town’s annual budget. The town garage flooded, too, but that hasn’t significantly impacted the road crew’s ability to perform repairs, he said.

Read the story on VTDigger here: High waters imperil homes, infrastructure in Starksboro and Huntington .