Amanda Gross began collecting donations at the Cavendish Baptist Church last week, when the early weather reports said her region in Windsor County would probably get hit hard.
And when the rain stopped Tuesday, the donations continued to flow.
The Black River runs right through the center of Cavendish, a community of 1,400 people. And Gross knew from Tropical Storm Irene that the river doesn鈥檛 have a lot of places to go once it swells.
This section of Windsor County, which includes Ludlow and Andover, suffered as much damage as anyplace in Vermont this week.
More from 开云体育: Maps: Which areas in Vermont were hit hardest in this week's flooding?
Gross said more than two dozen households spent the first night in the church鈥檚 shelter, or at nearby homes that were safe.
鈥淣obody lost their home, as far as I know. But there is a lot of basements filled up," Gross said. "And so we鈥檙e just trying to hear what people need, and then act as a resource center to get it out to them."
People have been picking up supplies or taking showers, and the church has been providing meals, including a breakfast at 8 a.m.
Gross thought it would be nice to have a barbecue to bring people together, and so a big wood-fired grill was set up in the parking lot.
Rob Dayer and his wife had to evacuate their home in Cavendish after the flood waters started rising. He says he was happy to get a meal cooked for him after a stressful few days.
鈥淚t was coming up pretty fast, and it was already up to the house, and it was coming up fast still so we left," Dayer said. "And then this morning I started, you know, pumping the basement and hauling mud and, whatever is down in the basement. I mean I was just absolutely covered in mud.
Kate Lamphere also said things got bad really quickly.
鈥淵ou know I heard that it was going to rain. I don鈥檛 think it registered with me that it was going to be as bad as it is," Lamphere said. "But when the day started yesterday we realized, you know鈥� My husband left for work, and then I noticed that the water was all the way up in our backyard. And I thought, 'That鈥檚 not good. That鈥檚 not where the water supposed to be.' And then it was almost like the river was going right through our backyard."
Then, Lamphere said, the neighbors moved out of the apartment behind them.
"And that鈥檚 when we were like, 'OK, the water鈥檚 at the point where we should go,'" she said. "So we took our dog and two kids and went up on the hill."
The roads around Cavendish are a mess, and Lamphere said she鈥檚 waiting to hear when the heating company will be able to make it over from Springfield to look at the hot water boiler. So she said it wasn鈥檛 a hard sell to bring the family by for a free hot meal.
鈥淵ou know it鈥檚 nice to be with our community members, and having a shared experience, and getting kids out of the house, and just be together," Lamphere said. "And you don鈥檛 have to cook dinner. That鈥檚 a great thing too. You can鈥檛 wash dishes without hot water."
About 30 or 40 people showed up and they gathered in the basement for a meal.
Not everyone there suffered through the flood. Sarah Cook said she lives high on a hill in Cavendish, and was able to stay dry, though her road was washed out, and she was temporarily stranded.
With her now road open, she said she wanted to bring her kids down to see friends see what she could do to help.
鈥淧eople have a strong sense of what they want the community to be," Cook said. "And I think people are in strong agreement they want their elementary school to be strong and good. They want to have like a green where people can come have a green and have concerts in the summer. So, yeah, it鈥檚 not just like a crisis-come-together. I think it鈥檚, even though we鈥檙e spread out and our town center is small, I think people feel those strings, strongly."
The folks working at the shelter said they鈥檒l be handing out cleaning supplies and food, and finding sump pumps to share until Cavendish is safe and dry.
Have questions, comments or tips? or reach out to reporter Howard Weiss-Tisman:
Flood recovery resources
- For state road closure information, visit or follow on X. (For local road closures, use the Waze app or monitor town communications, such as a website or Facebook page.)
- You can sign up for alerts from the state at .
- The latest forecasts and water levels for specific rivers are provided by the .
- Find power outage information at .
- To find more resources and services, and to report flood damage, call Vermont 2-1-1 or visit .
- For a list of state resources and guidance about flooding, visit . The guidance includes returning home after a flood, cleaning up, and dealing with mold.
- Find flood recovery information in multiple languages at .
- To request cleanup help from volunteers and groups, call the Crisis Cleanup hotline at 802-242-2054.
- For mental health support, call 9-8-8 or call or text the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.
- To register through the state to volunteer, visit .
- If flood waters reached your , order a drinking water test kit through .
- Find flood-prone areas near you with the .
