Flash floods once again hit Vermont, damaging homes and roads
[July 12, 2025]
By AMANDA SWINHART and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
SUTTON, Vt. (AP) — Communities in rural parts of Vermont on Friday woke
up once again to damaged homes and washed-out roads due to heavy
rainfall and flash flooding, making it the third consecutive summer that
severe floods have inundated parts of the state.
Up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in just a few hours on
Thursday, prompting rapid flooding as local waterways began to swell,
said Robert Haynes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s
Burlington office.
Nearly 20 homes were cut off in the small town of Sutton as a local
brook quickly rose from its banks and surrounded buildings, Fire Chief
Kyle Seymour said. His crews were called out to help rescue people from
two homes, which required help from swift-water rescue teams called in
from neighboring communities.
“This was an incredibly strong, quick-moving localized heavy water,"
Seymour said. “It overwhelmed all of our road culverts, all of our
streams, all of our rivers. But the actual weather event lasted three
hours, with the bulk of the rain concentrated within one hour."
Though the severity of the storms wasn't as widespread compared to the
past two years, local officials were still surveying the extent of the
damage Friday morning and shaking their heads that they were dealing
with flood recovery for three years in a row.
“When I started seeing the reporters saying it wasn’t going to be that
bad, I didn’t believe it,” Seymour said, adding that at least one member
of his crew has contemplated retiring after experiencing such repeated
flood emergencies.
Michelle Tanner stood Friday on what used to be her driveway, dismayed
that for the third time her property was washed out by flooding. She and
her family have lived in Sutton for 25 years and want to continue doing
so, but fear what another flood might do.
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Damage from flash floods is shown at the home of Michelle Tanner,
Friday, July 11, 2025 in Sutton, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
“We don't know if the house will make it again,” Tanner said. “We'll
see what happens. We don't want to start all over, though I guess we
are.”
Tanner's daughter, Tanika Allard, said taking in the flood damage
once again made her tear up.
“This year by far did the worst amount of damage with the least
amount of rain, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” she said.
According to the National Weather Service, Vermont's experience with
floods can be traced to both ongoing climate change and the state's
mountainous geography. Greater rainfall and increased moisture
availability have made the state’s steep terrain more susceptible to
flooding.
Elsewhere in Vermont, heavy winds blew off a significant portion of
a high school's roof in Addison County.
Meanwhile, flash flooding also occurred in Massachusetts on Thursday
after rains dumped more than 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in
some areas. Some businesses were flooded in the town of Weymouth,
which saw the bulk of the rain and flooding while commuters faced
delays as highways and streets south of Boston flooded.
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Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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