Flooding damages homes, other property in Waterbury, Vermont

(12 Jul 2024)
RESTRICITON SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Waterbury, Vermont - 11 July 2024
1. Flood waters in front of home of Grant Nelson, 51 years old, who works in marketing and lives in the house with his wife and daughter
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Grant Nelson, Waterbury Resident:
“We got flooded last night. We got about six inches of rain they said. It was coming down it felt like about two inches an hour at one point. And it just totally washed away this culvert and now we’ve got this river in our front yard.”
3. Nelson walks over piece of wood he put over flood waters to get to his house
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Grant Nelson, Waterbury Resident:
“Well, we're not going anywhere. But you know, what I'd say is that anybody that, denies climate change, can get a dose of this and decide for themselves.”
5. Various of flooding around Nelson’s home
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Grant Nelson, Waterbury Resident:
“I was up most of last night trying to mitigate damage, and then all hell broke loose and, there wasn't really much that could be done. So yeah, I'm pretty exhausted. But, I'm fortunate because I only went the basement and didn't get the first floor. We got evacuated though, which is kind of dramatic last night. It didn't seem so bad. And then all of a sudden I got really bad really quick, and it was dark out, and I couldn't really see how I could get out if we had to. So I called the fire department and they sent Waterbury Rescue, and they they guided, three guys, guided myself, my wife, my daughter and our cat out and to safety. But, I tried to get across it at one point on a little, part I thought was a little mellower than the rest of it. And I got quickly put on my butt and I said, all right, we're not going to do that again. So then I called the fire department after that.”
7. Various of flooding in Waterbury
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Liam Loughlin, 35, Waterbury Resident:
"I just live over here. The water started rising right around midnight, 12:30, I think at a decent level, getting to the bridges and then at one 1:30 or whatever, it just sort of exploded over the bridges and took over this entire area after torrential downpour.“
9. Flood waters in street
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Liam Loughlin, 35, Waterbury Resident:
“We had no damage in our house. We lucked out in that sense. But yard's pretty well destroyed. Some of our neighbors lost their cars."
11. Various of flooding
STORYLINE:
The remnants of Hurricane Beryl have dumped heavy rain on Vermont, killing at least two people and retraumatizing a state still recovering from catastrophic floods that hit a year ago to the day.
In May, Vermont became the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by extreme weather fueled by climate change. Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature, saying he is very concerned about the costs and outcome of the small state taking on “Big Oil” alone in what will likely be a grueling legal fight. But he acknowledged that he understands something has to be done to address the toll of climate change.
AP video shot by Ted Shaffrey and Hasan Jamali
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