Saturday, September 3, 2011

Vermont Post-Irene Flooding Mini-Update

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for all of Vermont.  Worst potential for flooding will be Sunday night into Monday, but scattered strong to severe thunderstorms could cause flooding sooner.

This would normally only be enough rain to cause localized flash flooding.  But most of the highway/bridge repairs around Vermont consist of soft, loose gravel and are not able to even withstand moderately high water.

If you live in an area that had become an 'island' or almost became an 'island' during Irene, and you want to go home, BUY LOTS OF SUPPLIES!  Be ready to be alone there again.  Or, stay with a friend in Burlington or somewhere else safe.

I think this flooding will be worse on mountain streams and small rivers, and less severe in places like the Winooski River and Otter Creek.  There are no guarantees though.  Please be safe!

4 comments:

  1. Just got a message from Ty who had been out of touch since Irene went over Belmont.
    She made it out finding secondary (or tertiary) roads and is back safe in Oregon.
    Just talked to another friend who came home here (Vancouver Island, Canada) from Vermont just ahead of the storm. We experience some heavy weather here and most often there is little damage. The Island is surrounded with sea level water, small enough, generally steep enough and maybe the wind and rains are not as strong.
    We have had flooding on my property: 200' asl and steep slope away from the house once in 35 years. Washed out a culvert but no significant property damage and I'm guessing it was in the '80s.
    Thank you for minding these details.
    Grand daughter needs this computer so I gotta vacate

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  2. Best of luck! Vermont gets its share of blizzards but when it comes to heavy rains we don't get as much as many people. So, we aren't set up for it...

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  3. I looked up Ushahidi 'cause I have an iPod.
    Still not impressed. I've been wondering why I saw your "Last Post" on Wunderground just when I needed info on Vermont - I still wander around there but imagine getting my own blog together someday soon.
    I grew up in the Okanagan Valley in B.C., Canada.
    My uncle had some interest in Geology and glaciation. He told me early on about beach sand deposits he had seen on the mountains far above the valley floor (~1200'asl).
    From my readings this province was under about a mile of ice back then and is still rebounding.

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  4. Hi! Yeah, I haven't tried out Ushahidi in the field much yet, and it may still not work that well. The web/map portion of the program seems to work, but the smartphone part seems the most important.

    Yeah, I don't post on the wunderground blogs much anymore, though maybe in winter I'll pop back on there. I obviously update this one a lot more frequently.

    Glacial rebound is intense... pretty amazing to think about. I haven't been out to BC but hopefully I do go out there someday, it sounds amazing.

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