Bridges out, power may be out for two weeks
“You’re not even in the 500-year flood plain,” police chief was told by insurers
Sanders calls for more commitment to carbon emissions reduction
by Guy Page
Sections of the Caledonia County town of Lyndon remain cut off due to Monday night’s flash flooding, the Caledonian-Record reported this morning.
As reported yesterday, about 50 homes were lost in the Northeast Kingdom in the fourth major flood in just over a year.
This morning, the St. Johnsbury-based daily newspaper reported that about 50 East Lyndon homes are cut off, including the home of Lyndonville Police Chief Jack Harris. Not that it’s stopped him from fulfilling his duties. Tuesday he got to work by surmounting a washed-out bridge by erecting and climbing a 12-foot ladder, and then walked three miles to the closest accessible road, the CR said.
Harris said the East Lyndon flooding surprised locals because it came from three small waterways not previously deemed flood risks: Hawkins, Simpson and Sheldon Brook.
Due to lack of the anticipated need for flood insurance, no-one in the neighborhood is insured to pay for repairs, Harris said.
“The neighbors up here, this is something we never expected,” Harris reportedly said. “Most of us are now calling our insurance company and they’re telling us ‘you don’t have flood insurance, there’s nothing we can do.’ I know when I bought my house inspectors looked at it and said ‘you’re not even in the 500 year flood plain.’ Well guess what, we’re in year 501 because we got flooded.”
Sanders bemoans ‘demoralizing’ floods, urges efforts to reduce carbon emissions
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) weighed in on the flooding with a press statement urging needy Vermonters to call or contact 211. “Let me be frank: Seeing flood after flood after flood is demoralizing,” he said.
Sanders also called for everyone to work harder to reduce carbon emissions.
“As I think most Vermonters know, these devastating floods are directly related to climate change,” Sanders said. “From flooding across Vermont, to the hottest days on record in many parts of our country and the world, to wildfires out west, climate change is real and causing devastating damage. Clearly, we must work together as a state, a nation, and a planet to cut carbon emissions and transition to a clean energy system that saves our planet and future generations.”
Adaptation vs. carbon emissions reduction?
Sanders said nothing specifically about adapting Vermont roads, bridges and property to cope with heavy flooding. However, commenters on Vermont Daily Chronicle have not been shy on that subject. One example is this comment from William Olenick on yesterday’s news coverage of the Caledonia County flooding:
“Take all the money spent on hairbrained laws dealing on climate fluxes and put that money on flood infrastructure projects, dam controls, dredging and levies then Vermont will be more prepared for future climate fluxes, that have always occurred throughout history.”