Jessica Rinaldi | Boston Globe | Getty Images
Torrential downpours pounded the U.S. Northeast on Monday, threatening catastrophic flooding across the region, where rains have washed out roadways, overwhelmed rivers, forced numerous rescues by boat and caused at least one fatality, officials said.
More than 13 million Americans were under flood watches and warnings from Eastern New York state to Boston and Western Maine to the northeast, the National Weather Service said in its forecast Monday, after storms that began over the weekend inundated rivers and streams.
"Widespread, heavy rainfall capable of producing considerable to catastrophic flooding is beginning to unfold, road washouts are ongoing, and are expected to increase in extent and severity over the course of the day," the weather service said
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated damages and economic loss at $3 billion to $5 billion, preliminarily, based on its own method of evaluation.
More than 1,000 flights to and from airports across the region, including New York's LaGuardia and Boston's Logan, were delayed or canceled on Monday due to the rains.
Amtrak suspended passenger train service between the state capital Albany and New York City after flooding damaged tracks, as did the Metro-North commuter railroad which shares some of the same track.
New York and Vermont were the hardest hit states. More precipitation was expected overnight and into Tuesday, creating further flood hazards, the service said.
Vermont officials were calling the flooding the worst since Hurricane Irene reached the state as a tropical storm in 2011.
"This is an all-hands-on-deck" event, Vermont Governor Phil Scott told news conference.
Parts of Vermont had already received between 7 and 8 inches (17 and 20 cm) of rain, turning streets into raging rivers.
Some 50 isolated people were rescued by swift boat, said Mark Bosma, spokesperson for Vermont Emergency Management, on WCAX television.
In New York, more than 8 inches of rain fell from Sunday to Monday in Stormville, a small town just over 50 miles (80 km) northeast of New York City.
The weather claimed the life of an Orange County, New York, woman, swept away by floodwaters as she tried to leave her home with her dog on Sunday, officials said.
"Her fiancé literally saw her swept away," New York Governor Kathy Hochul told a press conference in the town of Highland Falls.
Vermont’s capital city, and many other communities across the state, are under water. The devastation and flooding we’re experiencing across Vermont is historic and catastrophic. 1/2
— Governor Phil Scott (@GovPhilScott) July 11, 2023
pic.twitter.com/vjx6BBNAEW
Much of the New York flooding was along the Hudson River north of New York City including the Orange County town of West Point, home to the Army's U.S. Military Academy.
Video and photos posted on social media showed washed-out roadways and raging floodwaters reaching houses on Sunday and early Monday morning.
"Oh my God. It's up to my knees," Melissa Roberts said in a video showing floodwaters rushing past her and several vehicles and up to homes in Orange County.
A dam upstream from the Vermont state capital was holding at maximum capacity on Tuesday after "catastrophic" flooding shut down roadways leading out of Montpelier and trapped people in their homes.
The Wrightsville Dam, which forms a reservoir four miles (6.4 km) north of Montpelier, neared the point at which a spillway would need to release water into the North Branch of the Winooski River, city officials said.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue That would aggravate what the National Weather Service has called "catastrophic" flooding in Montpelier's picturesque downtown district, where people navigated the submerged streets in canoes and floodwaters reached the windows of businesses and the tops of vehicles.
The North Branch converges with a second, larger branch of the Winooski near the Vermont statehouse.
The growing frequency and intensity of severe weather across the United States is symptomatic of global, human-driven climate change, climate scientists say.
Wrightsville Reservoir only a foot away from being overtopped and still rising while swift water rescue teams are driving through downtown in boats. #Vermont #flooding #floods #Montpelier @jpetramala pic.twitter.com/yHL4Zmw89h
— WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) July 11, 2023
While a Northeast state capital is under water, ocean temperatures have soared to as high as 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in Florida, Texas is sizzling under a heat dome, and California is bracing for temperatures as high as 120 F (49 C) in desert areas this weekend.
Much of the U.S. Northeast including parts of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have already had as much as 8 inches (20 cm) of rain over the last several days.
"Make no mistake, the devastation and flooding we're experiencing across Vermont is historic and catastrophic," Vermont Governor Phil Scott said at a briefing Tuesday.
Montpelier City Manager William Fraser in a Facebook post urged the city's 8,000 people to be prepared to move to the upper floors of their homes as highway closures made evacuations difficult or impossible.
Throughout the state, search teams have rescued 117 people from their homes and cars by swift boat, as officials fielded calls that even more people were trapped in their homes in remote areas, Mike Cannon, leader of the state's Urban Search and Rescue operation, told a briefing.
Vermont officials called the flooding the worst since Hurricane Irene reached the New England state as a tropical storm in 2011 and caused about $750 million in damages and seven deaths in the state.
The city's topography - bordered by hills with the downtown in a valley - increases the potential for flooding, Montpelier City Council member Conor Casey said.
Flooding in Barre City #VT this evening. It is a very dangerous night for central Vermont. Do not travel in and around Montpelier/Barre.
— Jess Langlois (@JessWCAX) July 11, 2023
📹 John Bergman pic.twitter.com/0qsvRYaZrg
"My wife and I live right on the river and it's about two feet from coming in the living room," Casey said. "We're a bit used to it from Irene, so it's not totally foreign, but I think the scary thing is that it feels a bit worse so far."
The flood took its toll on the regional economy, with private forecaster AccuWeather estimating damages and economic loss at $3 billion to $5 billion.
Most of the crops at Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington, Vermont, were lost in the storm, said Janet Boyd, who owns the 80-year-old business along with her husband and son at the southern end of the Green Mountains.
"We lost all the vegetables and only have our blueberries left," Boyd said, "all the greens, the tomatoes, the peppers, the garlic."
Joe Miles, 59, owner of the Montpelier-based R.K. Miles Building Materials, said three of his eight locations in the state were heavily damaged, with two of them cut off by flooding.
Much of his lumber and plywood inventory was lost to water damage.
"It's awful and tragic, but fortunately no one got hurt," Miles said. "We'll get through it."
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