Disaster, grace, and resilience: A Vermont community after the flood

The rain began on Sunday, and by Tuesday morning, July 11, residents of Waterbury, Vermont, woke up to find the downtown flooded and roads closed.Waterbury took a hard hit, but the damage and destruction were far greater in other Vermont communities. Montpelier, Barre, Johnson and Ludlow, to name a few, were inundated. All of these communities face a long road to recovery.Gov. Scott called this week’s Vermont floods “historic and catastrophic.” Climatologists call it “the new abnormal,” another eruption of climate chaos that is sweeping the globe.For Waterbury, where I live, this was the second so-called 100-year flood in a dozen years. In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene devastated downtown Waterbury, with flooding damaging 222 homes, one third of the structures in the village.This week, some 40 homes and six businesses were flooded in Waterbury, with most of the flooding occurring in basements. Waterbury may have been spared the worst of the damage thanks to flood resilient measures it took when rebuilding after Tropical Storm Irene.I spent Tuesday sloshing through flood waters in Waterbury and talking to my neighbors about what they’re going through and how they’re coping.“I feel a bit out of body, like I'm floating a little bit in this surreal situation and I can't really think too far ahead,” said Georgia Ayers, who had to canoe to her flooded house. “We just need the water to recede so we can get to work.”This is an audio postcard from one Vermont community rising from a disaster.