By Canadian Press

Hurricane Beryl’s remnants flood Vermont a year after the state was hit by catastrophic rainfall

Jul 11, 2024 | 5:35 AM

MARSHFIELD, Vt. (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl caused damaging flooding in Vermont on Thursday, a year after catastrophic flooding inundated parts of the state.

Roads were flooded, washed out or covered with debris around Vermont after heavy rain moved through the state starting Wednesday. Rescues were reported Wednesday night, and some communities were under evacuation orders.

Areas of central Vermont, which was hit hard by last July’s flooding, have suffered some of the heaviest damage. Roads and homes were reportedly flooded in the city of Barre.

Beryl, which landed in Texas on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, was a post-tropical cyclone that brought tornadoes and flooding from the Great Lakes to northern New England after leaving millions in the Houston area without power.

Parts of northern New York and New England, including Vermont, remained under flood watches or warnings early Thursday. Thunderstorms associated with Beryl were forecast for much of the East Coast through Friday, the National Weather Service said.

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In Vermont, the weather service had said Wednesday the storm “will not be like last July’s catastrophic flooding but will still pose real dangers where flash flooding occurs.”

In a Wednesday night update, Vermont Emergency Management said there had been an unspecified number of evacuations and road closures due to flooding, primarily in the central part of the state.

“Vermonters and visitors are encouraged to seek higher ground should floodwaters approach,” the statement said.

Rescue teams and the National Guard were at the ready, the agency said.

At least one tornado touched down Wednesday afternoon in upstate New York, the weather service reported. It damaged trees and property in communities south of Buffalo, said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. There were no reports of injuries.

A tornado Tuesday evening in southwestern Indiana’s Posey County collapsed much of a warehouse and ripped off roofs, derailed train cars, and damaged mobile homes. No injuries were reported.

Beryl has been blamed for at least seven U.S. deaths — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Texas still lacked electricity early Thursday, down from a peak of over 2.7 million on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us.

Lisa Rathke, The Associated Press