The sound of rain during the press conference brought a sense of déjà vu as foreboding forecasts rolled in — and then delivered on their worst promise by flooding the town again.

By Lucia McCallum

Water drummed steadily against the pavement as Gov. Phil Scott spoke in Cabot last week to commemorate a year since devastating floods hit Vermont. The sound brought an eerie sense of déjà vu as foreboding forecasts for the next few days rolled in — and then delivered on their worst promise by flooding Cabot again.

Wanting to showcase the resilience of Vermonters after last year’s historic flooding, Scott’s team had chosen to speak at Cabot’s interim fire station on South Walden Road.

Scott praised the Cabot fire department’s ability “to move quickly and set up this location” after being baseless for nearly nine months due to the flooding and subsequent demolition of its station on Main Street. The interim building is federally owned and will stay in service until the town constructs a new permanent station further from the Winooski River at 2466 Main St.

But “the road to recovery is far from over,” the governor said, emphasizing the state has yet to address housing challenges as many Vermonters remain displaced or need significant repairs to their homes. He stressed the need for “building back smarter” by trying to mitigate floods before they happen.

As thunder rumbled in the distance, Scott was asked if he was confident Vermont would be able to handle another round of floods.

“I think, obviously, it depends on the intensity,” he said, “but we’re as prepared as we can be.”

The next evening in Cabot Village, the Winooski River’s murky waters began to rise. As the river breached its banks, some Cabotians decided to mitigate the flood themselves in real time.

Amanda Otto, who works as Cabot Public Library’s youth librarian, recalled that between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. that day, July 10, town road commissioner Sid Griggs and his crew stationed excavators throughout the village, removing debris as it became stuck under and around bridges.

One of those excavators was placed at the town’s newly redone recreation field. Cabot Community Investment Fund Vice Chair Chris Tormey said workers were prepared to defend the field, which has been historically prone to flooding.

Tormey was the grant writer for what has become a roughly $70,000 project to revitalize the field, which was washed out last summer. He said the town contributed $10,000 to the effort and received about $15,000 in grants from the state. Most of the rest will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

Tormey was the grant writer for what has become a roughly $70,000 project to revitalize the field, which was washed out last summer. He said the town contributed $10,000 to the effort and received about $15,000 in grants from the state. Most of the rest will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

Possibly due to a new drainage system on the field, only about 10% of the soccer pitch was covered in water — instead of being completely swamped like it was last July, Tormey said.

Considering that last year Main Street was ravaged by floods, with volunteers mucking out homes and businesses for weeks following the disaster, the flooding last week could have been much worse, Tormey said. Meanwhile, people in towns such as Lyndon and Barre woke up to find their streets fully submerged on July 11.

All but two of the roads in Cabot were passable, and the town’s water was still good to drink, according to a note from the selectboard posted to a community Facebook page last Thursday.

With three floods within the span of a year, Otto said community members are fatigued.

“People are tired,” she said, “but at the same time we were really prepared and did a lot to mitigate the damage.”

In his Cabot press conference last Tuesday, Scott touted some of his administration’s recovery projects, such as the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program, which provided $20 million to businesses, farms and nonprofits to help people make repairs and reopen. He also thanked first responders, Vermont National Guard members and swift-water rescue teams for their roles in nearly 200 rescues statewide following the July 2023 flooding.

During the event, Central Vermont Recovery Officer Patricia Moulten said some projects aimed at flood mitigation are already in the works.  

“There are multiple streambank stabilization projects underway along the watershed; culvert expansions, raising bridges and many other strategies are being considered. That’s particularly important in rural communities like Cabot,” she said.

With increasingly more frequent and intense natural disasters compounding losses each time they happen, many Vermonters might wonder what the timeframe for recovery looks like.

Asked after the conference what he would say to people still managing damage from a year ago, Scott mentioned Hurricane Irene.

“The last project of Irene (we) just pretty much cut the ribbon on about a year or so ago,” he said, noting those projects had taken almost 12 years to complete. “So I expect this to be a long-term recovery.”

Lucia McCallum interns as the Hardwick Gazette’s community resilience reporter with support from the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships. She works with editors at Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism program.