No injuries in dump truck rollover

PITTSFIELD — State police responded to a dump truck rollover on Route 100 near in Pittsfield on Wednesday. No injuries were reported.
According to police, the truck driver Carl Pritchard of North Clarendon was driving north on Route 100 in Pittsfield near Colton Enterprises behind a logging truck. Pritchard said he veered too close to the shoulder of the road, causing the truck to roll onto its side. The truck, a 1997 International dump truck, got stuck in deep mud and was subsequently towed away by Earle’s Truck Repair.
Pritchard said was transporting crushed rock and gravel from Florence to road repair along Route 107.
Police were assisted by Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety and the Pittsfield Rescue Squad.

Meadowlake Drive Bridge to close, Thursday through Friday

The town of Mendon just sent Vermont Today this release; town contact info is below.

MENDON - Sept. 6, 2011 – The bridge on Meadowlake Drive located just off Route 4 will be closed for two days from 6:00 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, until 6:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, to allow giant earthmoving equipment to work in the area.

Traffic will be diverted to the East Pittsford and Chittenden Roads during this time.

If you have questions or need additional information, please call the Mendon town Office at 802-775-1662.

Town of Mendon, 2282 US Route 4, Mendon, VT 05701

(802) 775-1662

(802) 773-9682 Fax

[email protected]

Vermonters in their own Voices: Stories and video of flooding

Our photographers/videographers Vyto Starinskas and Cassandra Hotaling have been doing great work. Vyto is putting together a series called Vermonters in their own Voices, which will document the impact of the flooding on residents.(This blog is cutting off the screen; for a better version of these videos, go here>>>)

Here's the first installment:

 

Video from just after the flood, on Monday:

 

 

Flooding video from Sunday, 8/28

 

Parade of caskets in Rochester

There was a parade of caskets in Rochester Sunday, according to Chief Photographer Vyto Starinskas. He was there when he saw about a dozen pickup trucks hauling covered caskets. They were from the federal government and they were empty, the cemetary commissioner told him. Last week, in the aftermath of Irene, old and new caskets were swept into a river in the town, dug up by the raging water. The federal government sent these empty caskets into town yesterday to recover the wreckage. It's a Rutland Herald exclusive.

 

Vermonters in their own voices: Video project by Vyto Starinskas

Photographer Vyto Starinskas shares the stories of a few Vermonters.

 

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Vt flash flood watch issued; hazardous weather outlook for today

Updated report, 1 p.m. Saturday:

On Saturday, the National Weather Service in Burlington issued a flash flood watch for Vermont and all of northern New York.

The flash flood watch is in effect from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning. Vermont can expect to see potentially heavy rainfall throughout Monday and into Monday evening.

The NWS issued the watch because of forecasts indicating widespread rainfall of 1 to 3 inches, with localized rainfall expected to reach 4 inches.

The weather service also issued a separate hazardous weather outlook for Saturday, noting that the threat for showers and thunderstorms will exist Saturday from the daytime hours through tonight.  "Any thunderstorms will have the potential to produce heavy rainfall," the alert said.

According to the NWS flash flood watch release:

“The heavy rainfall will be concentrated over northern New York Sunday night and across Vermont Monday and Monday night. This is a potentially dangerous situation! Areas hard hit by Tropical Storm Irene will be susceptible to more flash flooding given the already wet and eroded ground. It will not take much rainfall to cause flash flooding in this situation.”

The alert noted that the "potential for strong to severe thunderstorms will exist across the north country Sunday afternoon, especially over northern New York."  Gusty winds, hail and heavy rainfall are possible.

The NWS noted that precautionary and preparedness actions should be taken. It advised residents to listen to NOAA weather radio or go to www.weather.gov on the Web for more information.

A flash flood watch means that conditions may develop that will lead to sudden flooding.

“Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation,” the release continued. “With so much ongoing response and restoration efforts from Tropical Storm Irene, persons need to stay tuned to later forecasts from the National Weather Service and plan for weather than could significantly impact the area.”

The affected flood watch areas are:

NORTHERN ST. LAWRENCE-NORTHERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN CLINTON-

SOUTHEASTERN ST. LAWRENCE-SOUTHERN FRANKLIN-WESTERN CLINTON-

WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-SOUTHWESTERN ST. LAWRENCE-GRAND ISLE-

WESTERN FRANKLIN-ORLEANS-ESSEX-WESTERN CHITTENDEN-LAMOILLE-

CALEDONIA-WASHINGTON-WESTERN ADDISON-ORANGE-WESTERN RUTLAND-

WINDSOR-EASTERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN CHITTENDEN-EASTERN ADDISON-

EASTERN RUTLAND-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MASSENA...MALONE...PLATTSBURGH...

STAR LAKE...SARANAC LAKE...TUPPER LAKE...DANNEMORA...

LAKE PLACID...PORT HENRY...TICONDEROGA...OGDENSBURG...POTSDAM...

GOUVERNEUR...ALBURGH...SOUTH HERO...ST. ALBANS...NEWPORT...

ISLAND POND...BURLINGTON...JOHNSON...STOWE...ST. JOHNSBURY...

MONTPELIER...MIDDLEBURY...VERGENNES...BRADFORD...RANDOLPH...

RUTLAND...SPRINGFIELD...WHITE RIVER JUNCTION...ENOSBURG FALLS...

RICHFORD...UNDERHILL...BRISTOL...RIPTON...EAST WALLINGFORD...

KILLINGTON

In isolated towns, life settles in to a new normal

Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photos
Traci Templeton dries out family photos while moving out of her destoyed house on Route 100 in Pittsfield on Friday.

By Thursday after Irene, children in Pittsfield had learned to tell the difference between a Chinook and a Black Hawk helicopter by listening to the sound of the rotor blades overhead.
In Stockbridge, locals traded tips on the tastiest Meals Ready to Eat with rescue workers and Forest Service personnel as they took a break from offloading supply trucks.
Irene has thrown groups of locals, volunteers, rescue workers and state emergency crews together into temporary communities born of necessity, where strong bonds are formed quickly but nothing is as it was before the storm.

Pittsfield begins long rebuilding process; now trying to help Stockbridge

We just got off the phone with Pittsfield Emergency Manager Peter Borden, who said folks are holding up well in the tiny mountain town that received national media attention over the last few days.The infrastructure damage is a major issue, though, he said.

"Power is a huge deal," Borden said. "The infrastructure is demolished. The road north is gone."

But, he said, people are making do and doing fine. "You want to see a happy place, come up here."

"The biggest challenge right now is with the kids, who want to go to school," he said. "I can get them to the Wheelerville cut (the gap in the road in Mendon near Wheelerville Road), but then getting them distributed beyond there, to Barstow, or the high school, is a problem."

The next thing Borden will be working on is moving northeast into Stockbridge, a town that is also cut off from the outside world.

"There are some folks up on Stony Brook Road, we hear," he said, "who we've checked in with, and they're fine, but they haven't gotten any food or supplies yet. And that's a dead cell area."

In Pittsfield, he said, small gestures can make a big difference.

"I gave a guy a bottle of milk the other day," he said. "And he broke down on my shoulder crying."