In the path of Debby, Vermonters brace, again, for flooding – The Boston Globe

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — You can’t help but overhear the news as it spreads in worried tones among neighbors, town officials, and volunteers clearing flood debris from last month: Debby is coming.

Just over a week after torrential rain devastated pockets of this small, rural town in Vermont, residents are bracing, again, for more rain. Tropical Storm Debby is expected to arrive in Vermont Friday and clearing out early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, who was volunteering for flood recovery efforts in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom on Wednesday, said she spent some time checking in with town managers and first responders about Debby preparations. Vermonters feel nervous, she said.

“Three times in a month’s span [would be] pretty outrageous,” Copeland Hanzas said.

Now, recovery and preparation are happening in tandem: Town officials in St. Johnsbury on Wednesday handled the logistics of road repairs on the same day they got a weather briefing on Debby’s approach. Chad Whitehead, the town manager, instructed crews to prioritize impassable roads and shore up areas that seemed vulnerable to more rain.

Community volunteers, too, are in a balancing act. Ilene Dickinson, 41, a high school math teacher, said that while she was helping to muck out a house with other volunteers, a firefighter had to leave to go fill sandbags for Debby. “People are definitely pulling resources into preparing for this weekend,” she said.

Between 1 and 3 inches of rain could fall across the state, with some isolated areas getting up to 5 inches. Precipitation could fall extremely quickly, which could overwhelm drainage systems and result in flash floods across Vermont and Upstate New York.

The good news: The storm ought to be a fast mover and leave the region by Saturday, said Ken Mahan, meteorologist for The Boston Globe. The bad: Some areas could be hit more than once.

“It’s sort of a double-edged sword,” Mahan said. “Debby is a cyclone, so it’s going to be bringing multiple rounds of rain into the region … [but] with a quick-moving storm, you get the rain in and out of here in a hurry.”

The remainder of northern New England, which includes much of New Hampshire and Maine, could see 1 to 3 inches of rain with localized amounts up to 4 inches on Saturday.

Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom has already been hit twice in less than a month by flash floods that damaged homes and businesses. The force of water gushing down the area’s signature hills left huge gaping holes in the road as asphalt buckled. Some properties had to be dug out from the mud after landslides. Residents this week were still hard at work clearing debris, mud, and standing water from their property.

Amanda Wheeler, spokesperson for Vermont Governor Phil Scott, said that residents should chart out a safe route to higher ground, know how to shut off power to their homes in the event they need to evacuate, and ensure that they have extra food, water, flashlights, batteries, and medications on hand.

Climate change has worsened the frequency of extreme precipitation in New England. The number of days with 4 inches or more of precipitation has increased by 80 percent since 1958, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.

On average in Vermont, annual precipitation totals have increased by 21 percent since 1900, according to the state’s climate assessment.

Across much of the Northeast Kingdom, affected infrastructure remains under repair. Contractors are racing to replace culverts and fill in the ravines with new earth. Several roads remain restricted to one lane, and a handful of residential streets have streams where a bridge ought to be.

While Debby’s expected rainfall totals may not sound destructive, usually, the earth can act like a sponge for rainfall. Northeastern Vermont just had its wettest July on record. The soil is already quite saturated with water, meaning the ground can’t absorb much more rainfall.

“That’s not a great sign when it comes to what’s ahead,” Mahan said.

James Chamberlain, 64, owns his childhood home in St. Johnsbury where his daughter and four grandchildren now live. About 4 feet of water overtook the neighborhood just over a week ago; the cellar, pool, and garage were flooded. After the water retreated, he mucked out the garage.

“If I knew it was coming in, I wouldn’t have done that,” he said with a laugh. “I worked two days cleaning that up.”

Chamberlain said he would board up the entrance ahead of the weekend.

This story has been updated to reflect the latest forecast and estimated rain totals.

Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Follow her @erinmdouglas23.