Lyndonville, Barnet hit by floods

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – Route 5 heading into downtown Lyndonville from the south was impassable Thursday morning. Submerged cars at a local body shop showed the depth of the flood.

“Our hearts are broken for everyone in town that has to do with this, it’s very sad,” said Alan Brink, whose used car business was spared. “This whole street in an hour just flooded.”

Brink says other businesses north of downtown were also affected. “We have another store in another town that was also flooded, so all our cars there are flooded,” he said.

Down south, Barnet also suffered a big blow. A huge uproar surrounded the shop in Barnet village. A nearby Green Mountain Power hydroelectric plant was also taken out of service. Further downstream, two houses took the brunt of the mud and debris.

“I went to bed and my neighbor called me and said there was water coming out his front door,” said Barnet resident Jon Carpenter, who spent Thursday morning digging out his car. He is president of the Barnet Fire District — which owns the village’s water system — and says about 200 residents are without water. “The first priority is to get my car out. Priority two — I’m going to call the contractor to bring him in to assess what it will take to bring water back to the village.”

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Power was also low which put Morrison’s Custom Feeds out of action. “The food has to come out of here every day or the animals are going to starve, so we have no choice but to get the power back,” said owner Earl Morrison. His crew worked to repair the damaged road so electrical crews could access the lines and make the necessary repairs. “This is going to be very expensive and very unfortunate, but as a community we will help each other and we will mend and probably be stronger when we come out of it.”

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