Some Cautious Optimism This Morning Regarding Debby, Flooding And Vermont

 I'll make one thing clear: 

Expected rainfall with Debby. One to two inches expected
in most of eastern Vermont, with two to four
inches northwest and mountains. Note that this is
a broad brush map. Locally higher amounts could
be embedded in some areas. 

There's definitely still a flood risk here in Vermont as we await the arrival of what will then be former Tropical Storm Debby.  Chances are more than decent there will be at least some damage around somewhere in Vermont. 

But - fingers and toes crossed big time - this is looking less like the wholesale new big disaster for Vermont than it did two or three days ago.

OVERALL TRENDS/NEWS

Forecast trends continue to keep remnant Debby zipping by and heading to Canada really quickly, which would limit the time the storm has to dump torrential downpours. And while those downpours are likely in at least part of Vermont, the biggest focus for them should be in the Adirondacks.

Not that I want that to happen. I'd  hate to see the kind of destruction in New York that we saw in Vermont earlier this summer.  But Vermont can sure live without another big flood, too. 

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center still has almost all of Vermont in a moderate risk zone for flooding with this. That's level 3 of 4 on the risk scale and definitely a sign of potential trouble. That said. it's possible that moderate risk in Vermont might be trimmed back later today in some areas if relatively happy forecast trends continue. We shall see! 

We're not completely out of the woods, of course. As mentioned, we're going to get some pretty stiff downpours. And there's still a few question marks regarding the exact track of what will be former Debby. 

For now, the National Weather Service in South Burlington is confident enough about heavy rain in the Adirondacks to issue a flood watch there.  No flood watch is in Vermont, at least not yet. There's some high resolution data that was just coming in early this morning they wisely want to take a look at first before making any decisions on whether to hoist any flood watches in the Green Mountain State. 

I notice flood-spooked Vermonters are taking no chances, which is a smart move. The city of Barre, repeatedly hit hard by recent floods, is making sandbags available for residents and businesses. 

Let's walk you through what meteorologists think will unfold as this thing goes by. As you're reading, remember, the forecast is subject to change. The paths of tropical storms and former tropical storms can be really unpredictable.

TODAY

Another nice one as the humidity remains low and bright sunshine bathes the state. At least for awhile. You'll notice increasing high cloudiness this afternoon, as what will be former Debby begins its charge toward us. 

It'll be a seasonably warm day with highs in the 77 to 83 degree range most valleys

TONIGHT

The burst of high humidity that tropical systems always bring along with them will ooze quickly in, turning the night from refreshing to muggy by morning. This blast of humidity will trigger a band of rain with a few embedded heavy downpours and thunderstorms. 

This won't be enough to trigger any flooding, but could prime the pump for flooding that might come with later bursts of downpours from Debby.

FRIDAY

It's going to be kind of a weird, tropical day. That band of initial rain will move out.  You'll notice the oppressive, awful humidity we had through most of July and the opening days of August will be back. Don't worry, this outbreak of air you can wear will be brief.

Especially on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain, there could be fairly long periods during the day with no rain at all. Or, there will be fitful, quick hitting showers that might not amount to all that much.

At first.

But especially if we see a fair number of breaks in the clouds, that could destabilize the air and trigger some torrential thunderstorms. We'll have to watch those for the risk of any isolated instances of afternoon and evening local flash floods. There won't be anything widespread, if anything at all, but it will be worth watching.

FRIDAY NIGHT

The heart of the storm, and when the greatest risk of flash flooding might happen. The steady, heavy rain should continue all night in the Adirondacks. Debby is actually using Vermont as sort of a meet up spot with a cold front coming in from the west.  

The two will team up to come through Vermont probably with a band of heavy downpours. (Latest projections from the National Hurricane Center has the center of former Tropical Storm Debby about over Morrisville at 2 a.m. Saturday). 

The band of storms will be moving fairly fast, but since the rain will come down so hard, in many cases on already sopping wet soil, the risk of flash flooding goes up. Note that nighttime flash floods are dangerous, as they're hard to see and you might be sleeping when warnings go up. Have a way to wake up to warnings if you live in a flood-prone area.

 There's cautious optimism on main rivers like the Mad, Winooski and Lamoille, and the Otter Creek. All those waterways will have sharp rises, but so far, only minor flooding at worst is in the forecast. That could change if rainfall amounts and patterns change from what is now in the forecast, but for now, again, fingers crossed. 

There might also be a problem with wind in spots overnight Friday. Even though former Debby will be rather weak by the time it gets here, there will still be a fair amount of energy with it. Strong winds aloft could mix down to the surface overnight. That's especially true perhaps along the western slopes of the Green Mountains and maybe the Champlain Valley.

We won't have any ferocious windstorms like we did this past January, but gusty winds hitting trees on soggy, unstable soil could topple a few of them, causing some scattered power outages.

SATURDAY AND BEYOND

The remnants of Debbie should quickly scoot away, so most of the day should be rain-free. We'll need to watch how high main rivers get during the day, but as noted, I think we might be OK. We could really end up with a nice summer day on Saturday. 

Beyond that, a weak dip in the jet stream might promote scattered showers and rumbles of thunder, mixed with periods of sun Sunday through Tuesday. The showers will be light and widely scattered, and pose no flood threat. 

Wednesday Evening Vermont Debby/Flood Outlook. Still Reasons To Worry

This afternoon's forecast track for what will then be
former Tropical Storm Debby has it centered right
over Burlington, Vermont at 2 am. Saturday. 

 The forecast trends on how Vermont fares with possible flooding from Tropical Storm Debby's anticipated remnants remain roughly the same. 

There's still plenty of cause for worry, and a few reasons for a bit of cautious optimism in some parts of the state. 

Maybe. 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE APPROVED

Before we get into that, we should revel in what has been a rare for this summer Chamber of Commerce day we had in Vermont today. 

It was beautifully sunny, of course, with a scattering of fluffy clouds to make it all pretty. The sky was true blue, lacking the wildfire smoke that has been hazing up the atmosphere lately. Temperatures were totally comfortable, with highs in the 70s to around 80 in the warmest spots

Humidity was at rock bottom. If the dew point is in the 50s, that's regarding as comfortable. Dew points this afternoon across Vermont were in the  40s to near 50. Just delightful. 

Tonight will be clear and comfortable. Throw open those windows and let the fresh, cool air reinvigorate you and the air in your house. 

VERMONT DEBBY UPDATES

Now back to our regular Summer of '24 doom and gloom 

That westward trend in the forecasts for the expected path of Debby has stopped, and it is still forecast to go right over Vermont.  (Results may vary, it can still go a little west or a little east of us).

For what it's worth, the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center puts what will then be former Tropical Storm Debby right smack dab over Burlington, Vermont at 2 a.m. Saturday.

This would still mean the heaviest rain might end up falling up in northwest Vermont and New York. That's not cast in stone, however. We still need to worry about possible flooding in many other parts of the Green Mountain State. 

Tropical Storm Debby, just off the coast of South
Carolina when this satellite photo was taken late
Wednesday afternoon, looks kind of 
disheveled, which is good if you don't want
a powerhouse tropical system menacing the East Coast.

The National Weather Service in South Burlington is holding off just a little while longer while meteorologists there await the latest guidance on whether and where to post flood watches. 

I would rate the chances of seeing a flood watch in at least parts of Vermont appear by tomorrow morning.

With Debby going overhead or just to our west, you'll notice the high humidity surge back in tomorrow night as the first wave of rain arrives. 

 The rain Thursday night will mostly serve to wet everything down pretty good. That's what will help set the stage for the flood potential. 

The westward path might allow breaks in the clouds to form during the day Friday. 

That could well only encourage more torrential thunderstorms to eventually break out, adding to a potential flash flood threat. Thunderstorms near tropical systems often have incredible rainfall rates. 

Often four inches per hour. Luckily none of those torrential storms will last anywhere close to an hour in any one place. But they'll still carry flash flood risks. Especially if a couple or few hit the same spot.

Friday will be a humid, unsettled, tropical day to say the least. 

A tropical storm or former tropical storm passing to the west of Vermont can create some gusty south or southeast winds, much like a winter storm passing to our west can cause those damaging downslope winds. 

I don't expect anything super damaging out of this, as Debby isn't - and won't be - and especially powerful system. But with wet ground, some trees could be prone to uprooting in gusty winds. Nothing widespread, and not nearly as big a threat as the possible floods, but it's something to keep in mind. 

Also - and this isn't in any official forecasts I've seen - the east side of tropical and former tropical systems, once they're inland, can produce tornadoes.  It will be interesting if we get the right conditions for a quick spinup with Debby.  I'll wait for further forecasts to see if that low but non-zero risk indeed develops. 

The heaviest rain looks to come through Friday night, so at this point I'd say the period from late Friday afternoon through Saturday morning is the most likely time to see flooding if we get it. 

Current forecasts give most of Vermont at least one to three inches of rain out of this, with locally higher amounts. 

If the predictions for somewhat lighter rain in eastern Vermont pan out, that's good for two reasons. The first is the soils in the Northeast Kingdom are sopping wet, and a couple sunny days before the storm won't cure that.  

So if less rain falls, that might minimize the flood risk. Again, maybe. IF the heaviest rain stays west. For what it's worth, some models I've seen show a slug or band of very heavy rain moving through north central and northeast Vermont overnight Friday and early Saturday, so those areas are NOT out of the woods yet. 

Another reason to hope the heaviest rain stays west would be to prevent torrents from falling in the headwaters of the Winooski, Lamoille and Mad Rivers.  It would lessen the chance of those waterways going over their banks again 

VAGUE OPTIMISM

My guard is still way up with this storm. I still definitely worry Debby could cause another huge mess in Vermont. But that scenario is still not guaranteed,. If there's no guarantee, there's a little hope 

One reason for a tiny smidge of optimism is Tropical Storm Debby, just off the South Carolina coast late this afternoon, is less organized than some forecasts indicated. So its remnants might be a bit less intense than they otherwise would be.

Debby's remnants will race through here much faster than forecasts were indicating a couple days ago. That gives it less time to dump bucket loads of rain on us.,

The system is now expected to move so fast that we have a shot at a Saturday with fairly decent weather. 

As for whether Vermont suffers big time again, or manages to dodge another bullet, we really won't know until this hits. 

Debby, Flooding And Vermont: What We Know So Far

As of this morning, forecasts have the remnants of
Tropical Storm Debby going right over Vermont
early Saturday. That is actually a slightly better
scenario for us than if it were to go by a bit to
our east. But a big flood risk continues with this.

 As of this Wednesday morning, Vermont meteorologists are keeping a wary eye on Tropical Storm Debby, and what it means for the Green Mountain State.  

There's definitely the potential for additional, possibly serious flooding out of this.

 Just what we don't need given that we've had two big flood disasters last month, and really can't tolerate another.  Debby has already caused some really bad flooding in Georgia and the Carolinas, so we know this is a big bag of torrential rain. 

It's a little soon to guarantee a new flood disaster, but we still ought to be on alert. 

Anytime a tropical system comes our way, there's the potential for flooding.  Soils are already saturated in large sections of Vermont, especially the southern Champlain Valley, the Northeast Kingdom and parts of north-central Vermont. 

At the moment, NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has Vermont in a moderate risk zone for flooding Friday. That's level three out of four on an alert scale. It's rare to have a moderate risk posted two or  more days ahead of the event, so that's saying something. 

We know there's the potential for two to four inches of rain, with locally higher amounts. So we should get ready, just in case.  Both flash flooding and main stem river flooding are in play. 

FORECAST TRENDS

If you want to find glimmers of good news, there's a couple, though we are by no means out of danger. 

The expected track of the remnants of Debby, at least according to some computer forecasting models, keeps shifting a bit west.  Whereas almost all of the models yesterday had Debby passing by a little to our east, some of the latest ones have it going right overhead in Vermont. 

That sounds bad, but the heaviest rain with this type of system usually falls to the west of its track, not necessarily right underneath it.  That would put the most torrential rain in northwest New York and southern Quebec. The landscape is flatter there than it is in Vermont. 

In Vermont torrential rains rush off the mountains, leading to our dangerous flash floods. Flatter ground away from the Green Mountain State would minimize that. 

There's already a moderate risk
(Level 3 out of 4 alert level) for
flooding Friday and Saturday in
and around Vermont. 

Another trend we should hope will continue is that some models ramp up the forward speed of Debby's remnants. That means the downpours wouldn't linger as long, leaving less time for rainfall to pile up.

  Instead of soaking rains all day Friday and Saturday, the rain could shut off pretty quickly on Saturday. That is IF the forward track slows down. 

All that said, we shouldn't let our guard down. At all.

First of all, several computer models keep the center of Debby a little to our south and east. That would put Vermont in the crosshairs of the heaviest rains. 

Even if Debby takes a more westward path, we're absolutely not out of the woods. We might see less overall rain that way. Or at least the heaviest rain wouldn't be quite as widespread.

But the rain we'd get with this more inland journey for Debby would tend to come more in the form of intense showers and thunderstorms with super high rainfall rates here in Vermont.  

We saw a hint of that yesterday with an outbreak of downpours ahead of Debby in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.  Islip, Long Island had about a half inch of rain in just five minutes.  Much of Hackensack, New Jersey was under water last evening. Flash flooding was widespread in that region. 

Those are the kinds of downpours we could see if Debby goes overhead or to our west. These would absolutely pose a nasty flash flood risk. So not great.

The timing of this would put Vermont in a flood risk from Friday morning, lasting well into Saturday.

UNCERTAIN FORECAST STILL

There's still a lot of questions as to Debby's exact path and speed, so there will surely be changes to the forecast leading up to Friday.  What we should hope for is a continued trend westward with Debby.  Again, absolutely no guarantee that will happen.

But the further west it goes, the better off we'll be in general. 

If you live in a flood prone area, now is the time to get ready.  We're a couple days away from the event, so you still have an opportunity to move stuff that can get damaged out of the way, if you can.  Even if we don't end up with a flood, getting ready like that is good practice for the inevitable future floods in Vermont. And if we do see a flood, you will have minimized damage some.

Of course, there's no way to move houses, businesses and farms out of harm's way, so we'd better hope we manage to dodge a bullet here. 

Stay tuned for updates! 

Tales Of Terror, Rescues In Luck From July 30 Northeast Kingdom Flood. One Involved A 98-Year-Old Woman

Wreckage of the tiny house in Lyndonville destroyed by
the July 30 floods. A woman living there was dumped out
of the structure and swept away in the raging floodwaters.
She was rescued. Photo by Jeb Wallace Brodeur/VTDigger 

Now that we've had time to catch our breath after the incredible July 30 flash floods in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, tales of extraordinary luck, bravery and generosity are emerging from the disaster.

Given the extreme force of the flooding, and the fact that it struck in the pre-dawn hours, it was a recipe for some tragic deaths. 

One woman tumbled into the raging water when her tiny house collapsed into the torrent. Two women, one age 98, were pulled from a house that had floated away from its moorings. 

I have links to their stories below as those are worthy reads the you can delve into beyond my touching on the highlights

There were surely other close calls that day in the Northeast Kingdom as well.

Before we get into that, a public service announcement.  People up there are still trapped in homes behind roads that are gone. It's taking a herculean effort to restore roads and bridges to the point where people can get in and out for necessities. 

I'm seeing reports those efforts are being hindered by people heading up to the Northeast Kingdom for a first-hand gawk at the destruction. Remember, sightseers are like the rest of the debris: They're in the way and have to be moved. 

Sure, if you're up to it, head on up if you have some volunteer cleanup work you want to do, but that's it. Otherwise, if you want to help, just donate money to groups like the Vermont Flood Response and Recovery Fund at VTFloodResponse.org. 

Now on to two wild stories.

WOMAN SURVIVED TINY HOUSE PLUNGE 

As was the case with so many people, the latest flood snuck up on Leena Aly.

Two women, one age 98, were rescued from this 
Lyndonville flood on July 30. 

As VTDigger reports, the sky was clear Monday evening when she arrived home.  A flood alarm on her phone blared at midnight, so she got up and closed the windows of the tiny home as a precaution.

After 2 a.m., Aly looked out again, and in the lightning flashes could only see flowing water where normally there was gravel, and power lines and a generator. 

Aly tried to flee, collecting her purse, phone as the tiny home began to shake and dip. She stepped off the deck and was swept away by the torrents of water. 

What followed was ....who knows how long. 

Read how it all played out at this VTDigger link. 

From the water she watched the tiny house fall into the river, then her car. Meanwhile, still clutching her phone, she managed to get ahold of 911. 

Here's how luck and people who know the are saved the day. As VTDigger reported:

"The dispatcher asked if she could remember the names of her neighbors, and (Aly) remembered seeing a child named Hazel, the same name as her dog. She told, the dispatcher, who used the name to locate the family: Rose Reynolds and Keith Upham, directly across the street from where she grasped branches in the water.

There was no electricity, so Upham, contacted by the dispatcher, turned on his truck lights attempting to find Aly, That lit things up enough for Aly to see a section of road that she could climb up on. Upham took her hand and led her to his house, which was not being flooded. 

Read everything else on this at VTDigger. 

THE FLOATING HOUSE 

 By now,  you've probably seen a photo of that ranch style house, sitting partly across a road in Lyndonville, pushed there by Tuesday morning's extraordinary Northeast Kingdom flash flood. 

I wondered what happened to the people who live there. I'd hoped they weren't home.

They were. 

Fox Weather interviewed the occupants, a woman named Paula, who I would guess is about 70 years old, and her aunt Dorothy, who will turn 99 years old in September.

Remarkably, neither was injured. Both women stood outside the wreckage of their home, and talked calmly about their order with Fox Weather correspondent Katie Byrne. Click on this link for the video of this amazing interview with the pair.

Here are some highlights of that interview.

Paula said she and her aunt were sound asleep when the house started floating away and at first didn't realize the danger they were in. 

"We got a call from Jeremy, the neighbor, and he says, 'You need to move out,' and I say, 'Why?' And he says, 'You're under water. You're floating." But we never felt the house go."

Two men who live up the road from the pair's house came two the rescue.  One of the two rapped on her bedroom window (remember, this is by the time the house had floated to a point on or near the road). '"He said, 'you gotta get out of there.' So I passed my aunt out, I passed my dog out,  and I was the last one to leave."

As she talked to the Fox Weather reporter, her car was nearby, embedded in a tangle of tree trunks washed down by the flood. The two women were remarkably composed, given what they'd been through. 

Watch the rest of the interview in this Fox Weather video from YouTube. 

 

Refreshing Air Arrives In Vermont, But Frustrating Flood Potential Forecast For End Of Week

Forecast rainfall for the next seven days. Anything orange
is three inches or more. Darker shades near NYC indicate
at least five inches. Yellow in the Carolinas is over
ten inches. This forecast is big time subject to
change, especially in the Northeast. 

 As expected, it's much cooler and drier out there this morning, a state of affairs that will last most of the week.  

Clouds are forecast to gradually clear today after yesterday's rain. That rain was torrential in spots, nearly non-existent in others. 

Burlington received just 0.02 inches of rain. Meanwhile, a stripe of Addison County was under a flood warning for a time last evening as a patch of torrents passed through.

 Luckily, I've so far seen no reports of any serious damage in that neck of the woods. 

Now that we're done with the storms and oppressive weather,  there is pretty much no sign of any return to high temperatures combined with high humidity for the foreseeable future, so all good, right?

Unfortunately, no. Or at least maybe not. As I've mentioned a couple times already in previous posts, there's big time flood potential later in the week up and down the Eastern Seaboard. 

We don't know yet whether that includes flood-weary Vermont. 

DEBBY DANGER

Tropical Storm Debby so far is pretty much following forecasts, meandering around the Southeast, dumping incredible amounts of rain that is and will cause historic flooding in swaths of Georgia and the Carolinas. 

It's about to limp its way from Georgia and park itself just offshore. Since the center will be a little off the coast, Debby will have a chance to re-strengthen for awhile. All that time, it will be slamming huge amounts of rain into Georgia and South Carolina. 

It'll take until about late Friday or Saturday for Debby or its remnants to become "unstuck" and head on off to the northeast at a decent pace. 

During this time, we'll have that cool high pressure near us, keeping us partly to mostly sunny through Thursday, though clouds might be thicker south. 

Meanwhile another storm will be coming in from the west. We know the combination of that system from the west and Debby will cause a dangerous flood situation up and down the East Coast.  What we don't know is exactly where that will happen. The question marks are biggest in New England. 

This is a situation for a classic set up know as a Predecessor Rain Event or PRE.  Often, ahead of a tropical system, an area of torrential rain will develop well to the north and west of the tropical storm. It often but not always forms in an area that will eventually get hit by the actual tropical storm or hurricane.

A PRE can develop as much as 600 miles north or west of a tropical storm, and they're really hard to forecast. That's why meteorologists are still hemming and hawing about where flooding rains will strike at the end of the week. 

VERMONT QUESTIONS

As the National Weather Service in South Burlington points out in its forecast discussion this morning, computer  models are still all over the place when it comes to where the heavy rain sets up in New England toward Friday and Saturday.

The models are sort of leaning toward the heaviest rain focusing on southern Vermont, but there is absolutely no unanimity among the computer models, and various runs of those models. 

 Some of them have a  best case scenario (for us, anyway) of having almost no rain over central and northern Vermont and bringing the bad stuff to southern New England.  

Other models have a worst case scenario of dumping inches of torrential rains smack dab over the middle of the Green Mountain State.  

Other computer models have something in between those two extremes.   

Obviously, we want to avoid the worse case scenario, especially after the kind of summer we've had so far. Some Vermont communities have had serious flooding five times in the past year.  We've had more than our fill. 

To get forecast clarity, we'll have to wait until we see how Debby's path evolves, and how Debby and its moisture interact with that storm system coming in from the west. 

Hopefully, we'll start to get a clear picture by Thursday, so that we have a little time to prepare for flooding, if that's the direction we're headed. We just don't know. 

Vermont (Mostly) Caught A Big Break Today, Not So In "Debby Zone" And Elsewhere

Hard to see in the photo, but a fairly drenching rain
began in St. Albans, Vermont late this afternoon.
The threat of severe storms and flash flooding,
however, has diminished to almost zero in central
and northern Vermont. 

 A weak disturbance running out ahead of our big, long awaited cold front saved the day in central and northern Vermont.  

Sure, it was overcast with areas of light rain pretty much all day, but that's much better than the flash flooding and severe storms we feared.

The disturbance and its light rain stabilized the atmosphere, so wild storms couldn't get going. 

Except in far southern Vermont, where a severe thunderstorm was heading into Bennington County as I write this around 6 p.m. That nasty storm looks like it will eventually make it into Windham County before exiting into southwest New Hampshire. 

It still looks like the rain might pick up some in central and northern Vermont this evening as the actual cold front comes in. 

Believe it or not, a few isolated spots in northwest Vermont could use the rain.  For instance, the past week's storms have avoided my place in St. Albans, where we had only 0.35 inches of rain in the ten days ending yesterday. 

We got precious little so far today, so I hope a band of heavier rain northwest of here holds together. Rain did seem to be picking up a bit as of 6 p.m. 

In any event, cool, generally dry weather is due tomorrow through Thursday. 

Vermont might not be entirely out of the rain and flood woods quite yet, though. We are still watching the possibility on Friday and Saturday of tropical moisture from Debby interacting with an another storm system coming in from the west. 

Worst case scenario is yet another nasty flood, but we're not ready to go there yet. It could still be a big huge nothingburger for us. There's already a level 2 out of four flood risk alert for Friday for all of the East Coast, including all of Vermont. So it bears watching.

ROUGH STUFF ELSEWHERE

Areas outside Vermont - places from New York and southern New England to Florida - either dealt with or bracing for rough weather.  

Screen grab of a tornado ripping through downtown
Buffalo, New York of all places today. 

A EF-1 tornado packing 90 mph winds swept through downtown Buffalo, New York of all places this afternoon, damaging buildings and trees and blocking streets. 

Meanwhile, former Hurricane Debby, now a tropical storm, has already caused four fatalities in Florida. The storm's forward motion, as expected, has slowed down to a crawl, setting the stage for catastrophic flooding in northern Florida, parts of Georgia and South Carolina.

Among the places where concern is highest is Charleston, South Carolina.  Ocean storm surges caused by Debby will help block river water arriving from inland from going out to sea, instead backing it up in Charleston. 

Over the next week or less, up to 30 inches of rain could fall in South Carolina. Up to 10 inches might fall during that time from Virginia to southern New England. Flood watches are already in effect as far north as Connecticut. 

No Place Is Safe, Apparently: Famed Dollywood Theme Park Flooded Out, But Like Dolly Parton, It Can't Be Defeated

People fleeing through floodwaters at 
Dollywood in Tennessee this past Sunday.
Photo via X by @ParkFanatic

Lord knows we in Vermont have had our big problems with flash flooding lately, but the weather gods, climate change or whatever is trying to take down everything with water. 

Case in point:  The famed Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee was swamped by a big flash flood July 28 that had hundreds of visitors fleeing muddy, quickly rising water. 

Slow moving, intense storms moved over Dollywood Sunday afternoon, dumping 4.5 inches of rain in just a few hours. Park officials, along with the Pigeon Forge police and fire departments, hastily ushered guests out of the park as water quickly rose.

They managed to get hundreds of people out of the park with only one minor injury, which is great considering how dangerous flash floods are. 

Video and photos on social media showed visitors struggling through water that was as much as waist deep.  Several cars in parking lots were ruined by the high, rushing water. Others walked through, and then drove through ankle deep water to escape. 

Several cars were destroyed when parking lots flooded. "Dollywood is supporting guests whose vehicles were affected by this weather event, and cleanup crews have been deployed," park officials stated in post on X, formerly Twitter.

Like Dolly Parton, the park's indomitable namesake, Dollywood rose from the mud and water quickly enough to reopen by noon the next day, less than 24 hours after the deluge.