Vermont records 1st flood-related death as residents brace for more rain
Stephen Davoll’s wife told Yahoo News that she found her husband facedown in water surrounding their sump pump and couldn’t pull him out.
A 63-year-old Vermont man who drowned in his home is the state’s first known death from this week’s catastrophic flooding as officials urged residents to remain vigilant even as floodwaters recede.
According to the Vermont Emergency Management agency, Stephen Davoll died on Wednesday as a result of a “drowning accident” in Barre, Vt., near the flood-ravaged capital city of Montpelier.
‘I couldn’t pull him out’
Beverly Frost, Davoll’s wife of 20 years, told Yahoo News that they cut their vacation in New York state short when they heard about the flooding and drove back, returning home at 3:30 a.m. to find their basement flooded.
Davoll immediately began working on the sump pump. After coming upstairs to rest for a few hours, he went back down, Frost said. When she woke up, she couldn’t find him and began frantically searching the house for her husband.
She found him facedown in water in the hole surrounding the sump pump.
“I couldn’t pull him out,” she said. “It was horrific.”
According to Frost, the medical examiner believes he hit his head and then became wedged in what was described to her as a “freak accident.”
Davoll is survived by his wife, four sisters, two brothers, a daughter, two stepsons and several grand- and great-grandchildren.
“Everyone loved him,” she said.
Second flood-related death
“The loss of a Vermonter is always painful, but it is particularly so this week,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in a statement after the chief medical examiner confirmed the cause of death.
It was the second flood-related death from a storm system that dumped two-months-worth of rain on the Northeast in a matter of hours.
In New York’s Hudson Valley, a woman in her 30s drowned on Sunday after being swept away while trying to evacuate her home with her dog, officials said. The dog survived.
“Her house was completely surrounded by water,” Orange County (N.Y.) Executive Steven Neuhaus told WABC-TV. “She was trying to get through it with her dog, and she was overwhelmed by tidal wave-type waves.”
More rain in the forecast
Severe storms rolled through New York and Vermont on Thursday, triggering flash flood warnings. But there were no reports of any major flooding, and dams that were near or at flood levels appeared to hold.
Still, forecasters expect even more rain this weekend, an unwelcome forecast for those living near swollen rivers and in mountain valleys already saturated by this week’s deluge.
“The period we are more concerned about is Sunday because that could be more widespread and heavier, but not nearly on the scale of what we saw earlier in the week,” National Weather Service meteorologist Seth Kutikoff told the Associated Press.
Don’t go in the water, governor warns
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott urged residents to use caution as they return to their flood-ravaged homes and warned those who may be tempted to go into floodwaters against doing so.
“We’ve seen many pictures on social media of kids swimming in floodwaters,” Scott said. “This is not typical rainwater — it’s filled with chemicals, oil, waste and more. It’s simply not safe.”
The warning comes as cleanup efforts continue across the state. In Montpelier, officials say recovery from floodwater damage is expected to take several months.
The Winooski River, which runs through Vermont’s state capital, is considered full at 11 feet and flooded at 15. It crested at a record 21 feet, exceeding the levels reached during 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene, which decimated much of Vermont.
Relief efforts underway
President Biden on Friday approved Vermont’s major-disaster declaration and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. Scott submitted a formal request to Biden for federal disaster funds on Thursday in addition to the emergency declaration Biden signed earlier this week authorizing FEMA to help the state recover from the historic flood.
“Vermonters have faced incredible loss as a result of this historic and catastrophic flooding event,” Scott said. “While we’re still focused primarily on the immediate response, as we transition to the recovery phase, federal assistance will be critical to support families, businesses and infrastructure. With support from Washington, and the inspiring resiliency of Vermonters, we will be able to rebuild and recover.”
Separately, an official flood relief fund was established by the Vermont Community Foundation to help small businesses affected by the storms.
