Deluge: Tropical Storm Irene, Vermont’s Flash Floods, and How One Small State Saved Itself

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deluge Shinn - Deluge.indb 1 6/5/2013 1:04:13 PM Preface ii university press of new england c hanover and london Shinn - Deluge.indb 2 6/5/2013 1:04:13 PM peggy shinn deluge Tropical Storm Irene,Vermont’s Flash Floods, and How One Small State Saved Itself Shinn - Deluge.indb 3 6/5/2013 1:04:13 PM University Press of New England www.upne.com© 2013 Peggy Shinn All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by Eric M. Brooks Typeset in Fresco Plus Pro by Passumpsic Publishing University Press of New England is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirement for recycled paper. For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book, contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon NH 03766; or visit www.upne.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shinn, Peggy. Deluge: tropical storm Irene, Vermont’s flash floods, and how one small state saved itself / Peggy Shinn. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-1-61168-318-9 (cloth: alk. paper)— isbn 978-1-61168-404-9 (ebook) 1. Hurricane Irene, 2011. 2. Disaster relief—Vermont. 3. Hurricane damage—Vermont. 4. Floods—Vermont. 5. Vermont—History, Local. I. Title. hv636 1999 .v5 s55 2013 363.34'92209743—dc23  2013002825 5 4 3 2 1 Shinn - Deluge.indb 4 6/5/2013 1:04:13 PM to my parents, Ferguson & Jane McKay Shinn - Deluge.indb 5 6/5/2013 1:04:13 PM Shinn - Deluge.indb 6 6/5/2013 1:04:14 PM I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont. c  calvin coolidge, September 21, 1928, from a speech given in Bennington, Vermont, after President Coolidge, a native Vermonter, viewed the ravages of the 1927 flood Shinn - Deluge.indb 7 6/5/2013 1:04:14 PM Shinn - Deluge.indb 8 6/5/2013 1:04:14 PM ...