Damage at K

[Bubba]

People...stop with the supposition. We'll have passable roads within a few days, even if the fixes are temporary. There will be inconvenient detours and rough driving in spots but the state and feds are not going to spend the next month helicoptering food and other goods into currently isolated towns. Ski season will occur as scheduled and skiers will be able to get here. We have power on the access road and at least my part of East Mountain Rd got juice back an hour and a half ago. The world isn't coming to an end and things will be back to relative normal within a week or two.

.. 5 years later, many people's lives will never be the same

Very true but, for the most part, all's back to normal.

[madhatter]

People...stop with the supposition. We'll have passable roads within a few days, even if the fixes are temporary. There will be inconvenient detours and rough driving in spots but the state and feds are not going to spend the next month helicoptering food and other goods into currently isolated towns. Ski season will occur as scheduled and skiers will be able to get here. We have power on the access road and at least my part of East Mountain Rd got juice back an hour and a half ago. The world isn't coming to an end and things will be back to relative normal within a week or two.

.. 5 years later, many people's lives will never be the same

Very true but, for the most part, all's back to normal.

only for some, white river campground never re-opened, blackies store, the houses in pittsfield on 100 are a park now, some of chalet village is gone too, kokapelli never re-opened, lots of people lost land too...life itself goes on but many lost everything and never recovered from it ...

[SnoBrdr]

People...stop with the supposition. We'll have passable roads within a few days, even if the fixes are temporary. There will be inconvenient detours and rough driving in spots but the state and feds are not going to spend the next month helicoptering food and other goods into currently isolated towns. Ski season will occur as scheduled and skiers will be able to get here. We have power on the access road and at least my part of East Mountain Rd got juice back an hour and a half ago. The world isn't coming to an end and things will be back to relative normal within a week or two.

.. 5 years later, many people's lives will never be the same

Very true but, for the most part, all's back to normal.

only for some, white river campground never re-opened, the houses in pittsfield on 100 are a park now, some of chalet village is gone too, kokapelli never re-opened, lots of people lost land too...life itself goes on but many lost everything and never recovered from it ...

http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/22/lost-in- ... -by-irene/

[Bubba]

I realize it's not universal and didn't mean to suggest it was but, for the most part, Vermont has recovered.

[Woodsrider]

The question I usually end up asking after a disaster is what have we learned from it to prevent the same catastrophic damage from happening again when the next massive storm strikes? Billions of tax dollars have been spent on storm hardening. I wonder how effective it will be.

[madhatter]

The question I usually end up asking after a disaster is what have we learned from it to prevent the same catastrophic damage from happening again when the next massive storm strikes? Billions of tax dollars have been spent on storm hardening. I wonder how effective it will be.

well all the riverbeds are a LOT wider now...that part was virtually "free" too....

[skiadikt]

The question I usually end up asking after a disaster is what have we learned from it to prevent the same catastrophic damage from happening again when the next massive storm strikes? Billions of tax dollars have been spent on storm hardening. I wonder how effective it will be.

well all the riverbeds are a LOT wider now...that part was virtually "free" too....

looks like they're still working on the drainage just up the hill from sugar & spice on eastbound side of rt. 4 where it washed out during irene.

[brownman]

As several recent weather events have demonstrated, FEMA and the Feds are ill prepared to handle cataclisms.
We saw this demonstrated repeatedly in the Irene aftermath. FEMA tried hard, but were well out of their league.
They just complicated the recovery effort with red tape and ineffective personnel .. No clue on most anything
The National Guard were the real heroes in the reconstruction effort in the White River Valley.
Doug Casella deserves a lot of credit as well. He and his team were instrumental to our rebuild.

Advanced preventive planning for a weather event like Irene is near impossible.
You pray it's simply a 100 year event and go on with your life

[Dr. NO]

The question I usually end up asking after a disaster is what have we learned from it to prevent the same catastrophic damage from happening again when the next massive storm strikes? Billions of tax dollars have been spent on storm hardening. I wonder how effective it will be.

well all the riverbeds are a LOT wider now...that part was virtually "free" too....

looks like they're still working on the drainage just up the hill from sugar & spice on eastbound side of rt. 4 where it washed out during irene.

That washed partially out again. Guess they got some engineers involved and put a lot of effort to fix it properly. They took the dirt road by the Mendon town hall to work up higher and then created a new stone base. We shall see how well they did come the next big storm or snow melt.

[throbster]

Let's hope that Hermine goes out to sea

[freeski]

Let's hope that Hermine goes out to sea

NO WAY. I'd like to get 5" of r*a*i*n where I am. Tropical storms are the way we recharge our aquifers on the Atlantic coast. Boston area is in a horrible draught.

[brownman]

Careful what you wish for
Humpty lurks.

Though yes, serious tropical moisture is badly needed.
Fried impellers and well drilling is common this season.

[Woodsrider]

Advanced preventive planning for a weather event like Irene is near impossible.
You pray it's simply a 100 year event and go on with your life

I grew up with science not religion. So praying doesn't work for me. Planning does. Irene should be the new standard for VT just like Sandy is for NY/NJ. Our storm barriers now must exceed Sandy's high water Mark, which was much higher than the 100 year storm level. Homeland security is mandating it and paying for it for our critical infrastructure.
From the work I have seen and am still seeing in VT, they are taking a similar approach to drainage. The roadways and bridges are much stronger now near rivers and a crapload of boulders have been laid at critical river bends.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But only if you let it.

[Mister Moose]

Advanced preventive planning for a weather event like Irene is near impossible.
You pray it's simply a 100 year event and go on with your life

I grew up with science not religion. So praying doesn't work for me. Planning does. Irene should be the new standard for VT just like Sandy is for NY/NJ. Our storm barriers now must exceed Sandy's high water Mark. Homeland security is mandating it and paying for it for our critical infrastructure.
From the work I have seen and am still seeing in VT, they are taking a similar approach to drainage. The roadways and bridges are much stronger now near rivers and a crapload of boulders have been laid at critical river bends.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But only if you let it.

There is such a thing as managed risk. If Irene was in fact a 500 year storm, it makes little sense to armor all structures to that degree. For one, you can't armor all natural channels, two, that's how the earth as we know it was formed, three, when you build bridges with a 50 year life span, building them to a 500 year storm doesn't seem to make sense.

[Woodsrider]

Advanced preventive planning for a weather event like Irene is near impossible.
You pray it's simply a 100 year event and go on with your life

I grew up with science not religion. So praying doesn't work for me. Planning does. Irene should be the new standard for VT just like Sandy is for NY/NJ. Our storm barriers now must exceed Sandy's high water Mark. Homeland security is mandating it and paying for it for our critical infrastructure.
From the work I have seen and am still seeing in VT, they are taking a similar approach to drainage. The roadways and bridges are much stronger now near rivers and a crapload of boulders have been laid at critical river bends.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But only if you let it.

There is such a thing as managed risk. If Irene was in fact a 500 year storm, it makes little sense to armor all structures to that degree. For one, you can't armor all natural channels, two, that's how the earth as we know it was formed, three, when you build bridges with a 50 year life span, building them to a 500 year storm doesn't seem to make sense.

So the question is really, are Vermonters worth the risk? Sandy was a 1000 year storm, yet NY/NJ critical infrastructure is apparently worth the risk. Plus it is pretty clear that coastal flooding is more and more common.

Storm hardening is not the only way to reduce risk too. I parked along the East River today to work at Con Ed and the cars in riverside lots had a paper placed on all the windshields that said flooding is expected over the weekend. Move your car to higher ground. Sometimes simple planning makes all the difference.