THE VERMONT FLOOD OF 1927

This essay is going to tell you about the causes of the flood and stories of what happened during the flood . For instance: stories about a few families; people that died in the flood; the total casualties in each town/cities; and the total cost of the flood .

It was the 3rd of November , 1927 . The Governor in Vermont, at that time, was John E. Weeks . The previous month of October was a wet month. As it was, for four weeks, the rainfall was about 50% above normal. The ground was so soaked, that at the end of the month the excess water wouldn't soak into the ground and it overflowed rivers and lakes throughout Vermont .

The "Phenomenal" rainfall happend November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 1927 . The causes of it were two storms ; One was at the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, moving northward; and the other one came from the Great Lakes area that drifted to the east . The two storms came together and made one big storm in Qubec (above Vermont) and slowly came down getting ready to create the disaster . The storm moved slowly because of the high pressure and that it covered from New Hampshire to Maine. The downfall to this slow moving storm was that it rained for 45 hours but some places got only 18 to 24 hours of rain. By the time that Vermont got about 8 inches of downpour, it had gone into the major rivers and flooded them.

To show you how much water fell, I will take the Winooski basin, as an example . The basin holds about a thousand square miles of surface . An average 8 inch rainfall will cover one square mile, that makes about 1,858,560 cubic feet of water . In three months, the average family uses from 1,500 to 2,000 cubic feet of water . So much water fell in that basin in that 45 hour period that it could service about one million families (the whole population of New York City) for three months . All of that water flooding into the Vermont valleys, in that little time, wouldn't happen more often than once or twice in a few hundred years .

BARRE, VT.

Lieutenant Governer S. Hollister was driving to his house, when his car stalled about a 100 yards away from his home . He stepped out of his car, trying to walk home in knee-high deep water, and either stepped or was carried into a deep hole and was drowned to death. His body was carried and found one mile away in Potash Brook.

The following poem was written by H. Nelson Jackson, in memory of Lieutenant Governor S. Hollister.

TO MY BROTHER

HOLLISTER

A man who was clean inside and out; who neither looked up at the rich nor down on the poor; who could lose with out squealing, and who could win without bragging; always considerate to women, children and old people; who was too brave to lie, too generous to cheat and too sensible to loaf; and who took his share of the worlds goods and let other people have theirs, is my true knowledge of you.

BURLINGTON DAILY NEWS, NOVEMBER 14, 1927.

WATERBURY, VT

Mrs. J. R. Arkley and her daughter were eating supper and notice that the water was rising rapidly. So, Mrs. Arkley, ran to the barn and freed the cattle. She ran back and got her coat and was helped through waist-high water to safety. Two men came and helped get as much furniture to the second floor as they could. One of the men, escaped and the other one, George Sherman, was carried away off the roof of the barn and was drowned.

One of the saddest stories was the Harry N. Cutting's family . When the water got to the second floor , Mr. Cutting built a raft out the two doors and tried to take his wife and three small children to safety. They were going down the street until they hit something and capsized. He managed to grab a tree and climbed upon the branches and saw his family swept off into the raging water.

The grand total cost of the flood damages was $25,026,355.00.

CITY OR VILLAGE

REPORTING CASUALTIES # OF DEATHS

CHITTENDEN COUNTY

Bolton ..................................................................................................12

Burlington............................................................................................. 1

LAMOILLE COUNTY

Johnson................................................................................................ 3

Wolcott.................................................................................................. 1

ORLEANS COUNTY

North Troy ............................................................................................. 2

RUTLAND COUNTY

Pittsfield................................................................................................. 1

Rutland................................................................................................... 1

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Barre ..................................................................................................... 7

Duxbury Corners................................................................................ 8

Montpelier............................................................................................ 1

Waterbury ............................................................................................ 12

WINDSOR COUNTY

Royalton................................................................................................. 3

Sharon................................................................................................... 3

TOTAL DEATHS 55

by Peter Mailloux

Sources: Stories and Pictures of THE VERMONT FLOOD NOVEMBER 1927, compiled by R. E. Atwood.