Flooding in Plainfield [Stuck in Vermont 720]
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Flooding in Plainfield [Stuck in Vermont 720]
On July 10 and 11, exactly one year after Vermont suffered catastrophic flood damage, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl caused massive destruction to our state once again. The quaint village of Plainfield was battered by the raging Great Brook, which took down trees and washed out roads, bridges and houses. It even demolished two-thirds of a historic apartment building on Mill Street that locals called the Heartbreak Hotel.
Everyone escaped the Heartbreak in time, but some cats were lost and have not been recovered. Twelve residents and their pets were displaced and are currently seeking housing. Town Clerk Bram Towbin estimated that Plainfield's infrastructure repairs will cost between $8 million and $15 million dollars. The town’s entire annual budget is less than $1.4 million, and its residents are still recovering from last year’s flood.
Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger traveled to Plainfield one week after the flood to meet residents and hear about their experiences. Eli Barlow lived in the Heartbreak for four years before losing everything when his apartment washed away. He wants to stay in Plainfield but is struggling to find affordable rental housing. Arion Thiboumery is the owner of what is left of the Heartbreak, which was built in the 1880s. After experiencing three floods in the past year, he is not planning to rebuild and hopes the area will be turned into a floodplain.
Across the road, Jenni Belotserkovsky and Jim Gerstman are crossing their fingers for a buyout by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after being denied last year. Silt covered the first floor of their home of 16 years, mud packed their basement, and rushing water washed out their backyard. After staying with friends in Barre, the couple and their 12-year-old daughter have found a shared living space in Marshfield. Their mortgage payments can be deferred for two months, but after that, they are unsure how they will afford rent and a mortgage on an uninhabitable home.
Susan Grimaldi lives down the street on Brook Road. As the president of the Plainfield Historical Society, she is familiar with the many floods the town has endured. Her home of 46 years was pummeled - she lost her backyard, retaining wall, pantry, upper balcony and deck - but she hopes to fix it up and live in it this winter. After that, she will consider a FEMA buyout. Grimaldi has experienced six floods in her home, but she said this was the worst and she no longer feels safe there.
Volunteers are pouring into Plainfield, and many basements have been mucked out. A temporary bridge is being built on Mill Street, and water crews are repairing service lines. As Plainfield’s residents recover from this devastating blow, many wonder what the future holds for their town and our flood-prone state.
Filming date: 7/19/24
This episode of Stuck in Vermont was supported by New England Federal Credit Union.
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As a licensed plumber/hvac technician living in the NEK, this years devastation has my business line ringing non stop. There’s so much to fix that I have to prioritize work based on
1. what locations I can get to currently.
2. Severity of damage and what can reasonably be fixed in a timely fashion.
3. Number of residents displaced from each building and whether or not they have a place to stay.
It’s heart breaking to see so much despair…Stay strong my fellow Vermonters!❤️🙏🏻
Thanks so much for helping and it is truly heartbreaking to see all this devastation. Hoping there is not more damage. Stay safe! ❤
So tragic, so sad. Too dangerous to live there. Lived in lowest parts of southern LA. Betsy flooded our home that was several feet high. Then Katrina wipe out the entire neighborhood. Many residents did not return. One Aunt lives there but, mostly sports and fishermen. Sometimes you have to face defeat and move on. I'm so sorry for your losses and what you're going through. But next time it could be your lives. Use wisdom.
Warm memories in Plainfield. Grieving with you. So sorry for all your loss
As a fellow Vermonter, I am so sorry for everybody’s loss of their homes their property, but I’m so grateful that you are all alive. My prayers are with you.🙏🙏
This is powerful. Thank you Eva!
I’m watching from the UK and I wish you all happiness and success going forward.
Those beautiful houses can, and should be relocated to a higher place, essentially buy some fields and move the village back a street or two. Gems like that need to be cherished in a national sense, and federal funding ought to be in place to help people adapt to the changing climate, and make emergency grants to townships that fund these programs.
The people interviewed looked so nice! My kind of neighbours!
Seriously the very best of luck. It’ll be tough but worth it.
Another great report. Thank you, Eva
Wow, it truly pains me to see such a kindhearted community suffer such devastating destruction. To think there was another such flood in Vermont just weeks later. These poor people. I'm glad they realize drastic steps need to be taken in order to try and keep people from losing their homes, and quite possibly their lives, in the future. I pray they get all the help they need as quickly as possible.
Great report 👏 👌 👍Have a wonderful time , enjoy 😂😂
Instead of sending money across the ocean spend it on these people.
Or do both.
Exactly! Biden is sending more damn money overseas. He doesn't care about his own country!
Sending prayers.
VT cities got hit hard. Mother Nature is too powerful. Pray for the families
I use to think that VT was a safe to live. Now it's disaster after disaster 😑
God bless you all I am sorry what happen 😢❤❤
I am so sorry, Painfield. We're all rooting for you. ❤
Good reporting ❤good luck citizens
😢I’m so sorry
Live in Acworth NH...we lost 20 million of roads after some had already been rebuilt. It's a different future for many. Build sleuths. It was a river!
So sad.
The brook that flooded Plainfield went all the way to my daughter’s house in barre. Our problem was a flood control project that backfired and made things worse. Those flooded in the past got flooded plus a large section of the poor neighborhoods downtown $1000000 for nothing fema has bought out one house from last years flood which was as bad or worse that’s one house in all Vermont. July 10,2023 and to the day in 2024. Vandals are having a field we need a hydrologist not politicians
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Mother Earth is angry
C'mon that's just massive denial. No way that house would fall in?!?! Please. I am shopping to buy a home. I would look at the listing description and not even click on the link to see photos. Where has this man been hiding for the last 15 years? Has he not been paying attention?
ALMIGHTY GOD IS NOT PLAYIN' WITH YOU PEOPLE 😎🎸
Nothing to do with God. This is the result of dangerous experiments being run by truly evil people combined with a massive polar shift that has caused a move of magnetic north 900 miles to the East.
Why did I think this woman was moving to San Francisco?
💙💙🙏
You'd never see a blacl community come together like that
The 3rd time in 12 months!!!
Lifes jackets. Boats. Wood boats. Metal boats. Metal boats sink if collision iceberg.
Dont live near a river or brook in a flood plan. They get you each time.
Oy Veh!
Maybe the Feds could send some money to help Americans rather than send BILLIONS to Ukraine and other foreign countries?
fund raise
Infrastructure and chainsaws. How do they vote.
Rich peoples' problems. 12 million dollars to rebuild two houses.
Plainfield is not a “rich people’s” town it is a small village in Vermont and it wasn’t two building that cost 12 million dollars it was the infrastructure of the bridge and the roads along with the buildings and clean up. You honestly can’t be this ignorant you think a town of rich people only has an annual budget of 1.1 million dollars!?!?
Kamala will save u
I noticed a Ukrainian flag hanging on a remaining home. Don’t worry these Vermonters will get ZERO $ will Ukraine continue to get billions.
And they'll continue to vote Democrat.
God is creater everything and the mans cover with soil and construccion houses after 5 or 10 years the water come back again .. Is goverment foul😢😢😢❤❤God have mercy
I can’t believe he left the pets…… sorry but that would’ve been the first thing I got 😳😞
You only have minutes to react and it is hard to accept what is happening to your home that fast. Its so hard.
I suspect that he thought that the water wouldn't rise more than a foot or two in the building's first story. He probably never expected the water to destroy the building. No one expected the bridge to become a dam.
I was thinking the same thing, but then I realized it probably didn't occur to him that the building would actually get washed away. It's not something one would expect to happen, especially in little old Vermont. They're not used to buildings getting washed away in a flood.
Always should be ready to evacuate pets. Those poor cats. Don’t have pets if you can’t care for them.
@t.k3025 were you there? You don't know what that poor guy was going through.
Nice Waterfront Property..... Haaa Haaa
🌳
Sending prayers.
No reason not to; prayers have always worked in the past