BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) – For the fourth consecutive year, Vermont communities have faced heavy and damaging rains in July, and across the state, communities are still rebuilding and redesigning to protect against future floods.

Central Vermont saw pelting rain Thursday. The heavy rains came as a surprise to Bob Nelson, a Nelson Hardware owner in Barre, and others in the city who had flashbacks on the eve of the devastating flooding three years ago.

“I could hear pounding on the roof of our house, and my wife and I go out onto the deck and the water is sheeting off over our gutter,” Nelson said. “It’s crazy; it’s the same day the last three years.”

Barre’s infrastructure and homes were largely spared, but the downtown took on about a foot of water.

“It’s a bit of a helpless feeling. All you can do is say a prayer and watch the water come up and hope it stops raining,” Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon said.

Barre has been working to upgrade culverts, remove debris, improve stormwater systems and more. But Lauzon said with limited dollars, it will take time to adjust to a future filled with flooding.

“We spent 75 years encroaching on the Stevens Branch and making it smaller. Now we’re going to take the next 75 years reversing that process,” Lauzon said.

Vermont has conducted some 250 home buyouts, paid out $40 million to families and shelled out some $200 million in infrastructure repairs.

“You always wish you were farther along than you are, but you’re also grateful for all of the hard work that’s gotten you here,” said Doug Farnham, Vermont’s chief recovery officer.

Farnham said most of Vermont’s small and medium flood recovery projects are complete or near complete, but the process with FEMA has been slow because of red tape.

“In many cases, we’re over three years into this. We’re not happy with how long it’s gone, but it’s consistent with the historical performance,” Farnham said.

He added that for Vermont’s downtowns, many of which are built in the floodplain, it will take many decades to build for the future.

Vermont may receive up to another $400 million for new wastewater plants in Hardwick, Johnson and Ludlow, and for upgrades in Montpelier’s Capitol Complex.

No games have been played, but the Red Sox’s series against the New York Mets is already off to a rocky start.

That’s thanks to a series of travel issues that caused a 17-hour delay from the time Boston was supposed to depart Chicago to the time it actually took off. The Red Sox should have left Illinois at 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday night, landing in New York around midnight.

Instead, the team took off at approximately 3 p.m. ET on Friday. They’ll land around 5 p.m., making it to New York just barely in time for their 7:15 p.m. game against the Mets.

The Boston Globe‘s Tim Healey and Alex Speier reported the delay, and their sources didn’t give any specific reason for the issues, just that Boston “encountered multiple plane issues in trying to continue to New York.”

As of 4 p.m. ET, the Red Sox-Mets game will continue as scheduled at 7:15 p.m. Friday. Sonny Gray is set to take the bump for Boston, which enters Friday an undefeated 6-0 on its recent road trip.

The concept behind Street Fries is simple: everyone loves fries. Owner Eric Williams has yet to meet anyone who doesn’t light up at the idea of fried potatoes, especially when they’re fresh-cut and piled with toppings.

“From kids to grandma to anyone between, people can’t wait to have fries every day,” he said.

After launching a Pittsburgh-based food truck in 2021 — “gourmet fries that hit the streets,” as Williams described it — the business is expanding with a South Side storefront. Soft-opened on Wednesday, the new Street Fries location plans to serve both a day and late-night crowd, with a grand opening celebration planned for July 18.

A full menu of loaded fries ($10 to $24) includes the truck’s original offerings, top sellers and newer additions, along with a build-your-own fries option ($5 to $10) with a choice of meats, cheeses and sauces.

Everything on the menu has a story, Williams said. The North Sider, or hibachi fries ($20 to $24), topped with steak, shrimp and melted cheddar, came together on the fly after a customer requested the combination during an Allegheny City Brewing pop-up. Cubby’s Favorite ($14 to $16), spicy garlic Parmesan fries, was inspired by a wings-and-fries shop Williams frequented as a college student at Florida State University.

An original or “big fry” bag ($10 to $15) remains the most popular choice, offering seasoned fresh-cut fries and a choice of one sauce.

Inside the restaurant, a neon-lit mural features the truck’s mascot, Mr. Street Fries, by Pittsburgh artist Camerin “Camo” Nesbit, who also painted the Street Fries food truck.

The anime-inspired, sneaker-wearing mascot “is kind of a resemblance of myself,” Williams said. But over time, he’s come to think of Mr. Street Fries as the one guiding the business, with Williams serving as his right-hand man.

Street Fries began taking shape eight years ago while Williams, 38, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania.

“I’ve always wanted to do something bigger than myself,” he said.

As a homesick volunteer making a modest monthly allowance, he started buying 50-pound bags of potatoes for $10. In the largely agricultural country, locals grew potatoes in their backyards, but had never tried deep-fried, crunchy American-style fries or American seasoning.

“I would just serve fries and season them up differently to try to give them and me something new,” Williams remembered. One day, he made a spice blend of curries, salt and pepper and tossed it on fries. An instant hit, the seasoned fries — which still resemble the “original” on Street Fries’ menu — endeared him to both his hosts and fellow expats and Peace Corps volunteers. Later, as part of his community development work, Williams cooked up chili cheese fries for a Halloween fundraiser, selling out after serving 600 teenagers.

“And I was like, ‘You know what? This should be a business,’” he said. “That’s when I really started to learn — I had a knack for engagement and marketing. I can listen to people and give them what they want.”

Shortly before his 30th birthday, Williams sketched the entire Street Fries concept in chalk across a 20-foot wall — an image he still thinks back on today.

After returning stateside, Williams felt that same guiding force again. A native Pittsburgher who graduated from Woodland Hills High School, Williams went to work for the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. For a couple of years, he did double-duty holding Street Fries pop-ups on off-days and weekends while helping launch the City in the Streets block party program in 2023.

During the truck’s first three years, Williams worked 300 events across the region, including Pittsburgh’s Juneteenth celebration, Harambee Ujima Black Arts and Culture Festival in Homewood, and Bloomfield Little Italy Days. The idea of blending festivals, a food business and community development began to percolate.

Williams said he felt called to keep cooking.

“They loved the fries too much,” he laughed. “And I’m like, ‘How can I let this moment go?’… It felt good trying to build something.”

Though the idea of a permanent storefront was in the works eight months ago, Williams found his biggest stage yet when Street Fries became a food vendor during April’s NFL Draft — one of only 13 locals selected out of hundreds of applications.

Street Fries’ busiest single-day events served about 300 people, but during the Draft, a staff of 20 fed roughly 6,000 on opening day alone, ultimately using 5,000 pounds of potatoes.

“The Draft was the most monumental, huge, frightening thing ever, which you only can say after the fact,” Williams said. “But it was such a great opportunity that (I thought), let’s use this to catapult us even more.”

With the new brick-and-mortar restaurant on the South Side, Williams hopes to continue serving the community and plant even deeper roots. Street Fries is also involved with the new South Side Street Fest and is developing a nonprofit tentatively called Hello Neighbor.

The full name of the business, Williams points out, is Street Fries 4Ever.

“And the idea is to keep it forever,” he said. “I want to make the pot bigger, so more people can eat off the plate.”