With heavy rain forecast Wednesday afternoon and evening, on the anniversary of last July’s catastrophic flooding, experts are urging Vermonters to stay alert.
Setting up proper channels for communication, they say, is as important as gathering supplies and clearing the drainage system.
Jessica Neiles, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Burlington, said it is especially important to pay attention to local weather reports and alerts.
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“You want to make sure that you have a way to receive the warnings,” she said.
The Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which sends messages to most cellphones, is one platform for such communications from the National Weather Service and other agencies. That system is typically only used for high-urgency alerts, Neiles said.
For earlier and more granular updates, she said, people can register with VT-ALERT, a platform run by the Vermont Emergency Management office. The system is also available via the Everbridge mobile app.
Beyond staying on top of the forecast, Kris Johnston, a team leader for the technical rescue team at Rescue Inc. in Brattleboro, encourages people to make a plan for every eventuality. Johnston said he too often sees people taken by surprise, and it’s crucial to be able to leave quickly and safely if directed to do so by local authorities.
“One of the big things we see is people trying to evacuate themselves (when they have to) drive through flooded areas,” he said.
Johnston said it can take just 6 inches of water to float a car.
He recommends making a relocation plan with friends and family who live on higher ground if possible, and erring on the side of caution.
Equally important, Johnston said, is for people to plan for the possibility that they’ll need to stay put, and to ensure they have enough water and food that doesn’t require electricity for cooking. People with generators should also check their fuel supplies, he said.
To protect their houses as much as possible, Johnston said, people can check that runoff systems are functioning properly, making sure that gutters and drains are clear.
Neiles also recommended elevating household items at risk of flooding. “People whose basements flood all the time, you probably don’t want to have stuff on the floor,” she said.
Mike Cannon, the state’s urban search and rescue coordinator, said that not everyone is equally able to adjust to extreme weather. Most of the people his teams rescue, he said, are disadvantaged through age, sickness or financial hardship.
When push comes to shove, he said, Vermonters must check on their neighbors. “It’s incumbent upon us to be advocates for the folks that might not be able to advocate for themselves,” he said.
Communication in general between the local and state level is paramount, according to Cannon.
“We do want to hear from those communities,” he said. “We want to hear that you’re good.”
The increased frequency and intensity of floods in the past year has stretched the state’s rescue capacity, Cannon said. In northern Vermont, where the soil has already received substantial rain, that could be the case again.
Nonetheless, he remains optimistic.
“Vermonters are a pretty resilient lot,” Cannon said.