JOHNSON, Vt. (WCAX) – After two consecutive summers of disastrous flooding, many Vermont towns are working on flood mitigation projects.
People in the village of Johnson are on edge as Tropical Storm Debby threatens another round of heavy rain.
“We were like, oh my God. Well, what’s going to happen if it floods this year?” said Damien Cross, who moved to Johnson with his family this year to start their business, the Rainbow Tea House.
When the family heard about last year’s flooding, they wasted no time preparing, installing barriers in their basement.
As Debby’s wrath looms, they, like other Vermonters, hope high waters don’t return.
“They are reinforcing all the walls with more cement, so you know, it’s more structurally sound. We have a bunch of sandbags that we can put up to try to defer some of the water. But who knows how much water is going to come.” Cross said.
Johnson is one of many local communities working with the Lamoille County Planning Commission to develop flood mitigation projects. The group has 30 different projects on their radar for the next couple of years.
A model for their work is the Cambridge Greenway Bridge. During previous flooding events, the bridge clogged the Lamoille River, triggering flooding in areas like Jeffersonville. It’s since been raised and now helps minimize the devastating effects of flooding.
“The water was just so high that the village still did have flooding. But with the engineers we talked to, they said that this bridge probably got about 45 extra minutes for first responders to respond,” said Seth Jensen of the Lamoille County Planning Commission.
The commission says before the bridge was raised, at least eight floods caused more than $800,000 worth of damage.
Residents in the area remain worried for their community if Debby hits hard.
“Now having to deal with flooding and a lot of towns being around our flood plains, close to our rivers,” said Kathleen James of Johnson. “I think a lot of people may be thinking about leaving Vermont. That is also really sad, too, because a lot of our culture comes from our community.”