VERMONT – Vermont’s flash flood season opened with washed-out roads and a heat advisory right behind it.
With heat index values forecast to approach 100 and more thunderstorms possible through the past weekend, state officials say they’re watching both threats at once after storms washed out roads in Hardwick and Wolcott.
Last week has already brought one of the state’s first floods of the year. Thunderstorms Wednesday evening dumped nearly three inches of rain on the Hardwick and Wolcott area, prompting the weather service to issue a flash flood warning for parts of Caledonia and Lamoille counties that extended into the night.
The rain washed out a culvert and damaged Bunker Hill Road in Hardwick, according to Hardwick Police Chief Michael Henry, who characterized the flooding as relatively minor. Damage was limited to a few roads, he said, and crews had already made repairs by Thursday.
No residents were forced to evacuate, and state emergency crews did not need to mobilize.
Vermont is entering the most flood-prone stretch of its year with a double-barreled forecast for last weekend: more thunderstorms possible through the weekend and the first heat wave of the season already triggering advisories across much of the state.
A large mass of humid air has made its way from the Gulf and across the South up to states in the Northeast, bringing along the ingredients for more thunder storms into the past weekend, according to Adrianna Kremer, a meteorologist in the Burlington office of the National Weather Service.
High temperatures followed the storms, and the weather service issued heat advisories down the western side of the state, affecting communities from St. Albans to Bennington. Burlington could feel a heat index close to 100 degrees on Friday.
The Burlington city government urged residents to protect against heat exposure illness, with city officials supplying cooling resources to municipal buildings like City Hall and Fletcher Free Library. Temperatures reached into the 90s on Thursday and were projected to reach a high of 95 degrees on Friday, according to a press release sent out by the mayor’s office.
“We were looking at both the potentials for severe thunderstorms and what that may cause on the flooding side,” Eric Forand, director of Vermont Emergency Management, said.
He added that his office is also monitoring the heat and working with the Vermont Department of Health to ensure that any needed announcements regarding cooling centers be made available.
The storms come towards the beginning of a period when Vermont has traditionally seen flash flooding events as summer storms can bring quick bursts of precipitation.
Forand said that the state’s emergency management department stays ready to respond even outside of the traditional flood season.
“Mother Nature seems to do whatever she wants,” he said.
