Hurricane Irene Devastates State,
Charlotte Spared
by Nancy Wood,
September 8, 2011, page 1.....

The entire East Coast of the U.S. was on alert Sunday, August 28, as Hurricane Irene moved steadily northward. Flash flood and high wind warnings were posted for Vermont, but most news outlets focused on the havoc expected in New York City and other metro areas. Despite the warnings, there was little expectation that Vermont would experience the worst flood since 1927.

Charlotte was spared the worst of the storm. Green Mountain Power, aided by crews from New York and Ontario, dealt with numerous power outages throughout town, in some cases lasting until Tuesday. Road Commissioner Jr Lewis and the Lewis Excavating team spent Sunday through Thursday cleaning up trees and branches on town roads, at a cost of $13,142 to the town. Lewis said that only a handful of roads were closed during the storm due to water, trees or downed power lines.

According to Fire Chief Chris Davis, at 10 a.m. Sunday, Charlotte Fire and Rescue headed to CCS to clear the storm drains, clogged with mud from the construction, that were causing flooding around the school. Throughout the day and evening they backed up the road crews, putting up cones where needed.

At around 10:30 p.m. emergency service communications were interrupted. Power was out at the antenna on the top of Mt. Philo that is shared with by Charlotte with the State Police and other area rescue services. Davis said that Charlotte Fire and Rescue volunteers cleared debris off the road so a state radio technician could get to the summit to start the generator that had failed to come on automatically. Service was restored at midnight.

Despite severe damage to railroad bridges and rail beds in the southern part of the state, Vermont Rail Systems restored freight traffic on September 1 from Burlington through Charlotte to Rutland to Whitehall, New York. 

The rafts and docks at the Town Beach suffered only minor damage during the severe north and west winds, thanks to the quick action of Deb Stone and crew (see Recreation News on page 20). Within three days the lake level had risen over two feet as flood waters poured in from throughout the Lake Champlain Basin. Docks and boats were being pulled in and off beaches. By this week, the lake was up another six inches.

Area residents and businesses have joined others from around the region to help less fortunate Vermonters. Fundraising events include The Boycott by Kathryn Blume (see page 15). The Charlotte Congregational Church was organizing help crews and chicken pot pie baking sessions. Shelburne Farms is donating 10% of the sales at the Inn Dining Room and at the Farm Cart through Sunday, September 11, to the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund. Seventh Generation volunteers and others gathered at Vermont Foodbank’s warehouse in Barre to assemble 1,200 “green” cleaning kits filled with the natural and non-toxic clean-up supplies.

Contributions may be made to a variety of funds set up to aid the stricken parts of the state. Two suggestions are Vermont Disaster Relief Fund at vermont211.org and the American Red Cross – Vermont and New Hampshire Valley Chapter at vermontredcross.org.