the town of wilmington, vermont after irene

as i'm sure many of you have heard, the devastation from irene in southern vermont is extreme.  a quick google search will bring you a myriad of photos and several videos of water completely invading the small communities there - from bridges being ripped away to cars floating downstream.  several people have died, including a girl in her early twenties who was swept off an embankment and into a raging river.

one of the towns most talked about in the news has been wilmington, the quaint little place we are to call home as of this sunday, september 4.

or, i should say, hopefully this sunday.  as of now, the road that connects wilmington to bennington - the road we were planning to take on the pilgrimage from my mom's house to our new place in wilmington - is closed due to extensive damage.  reports today are coming in that the national guard has arrived with a lot of supplies, and the road may be beginning to be repaired.

the reason that it's so important to fix the road the connects wilmington to bennington to the west and brattleboro to the east is that residents in the town rely on those bigger towns for many of their essential services.  this is a problem for many communities in southern vermont right now -- many roads have become impassable and are not repaired.  for many towns, there is no way in or out and no major services within the actual towns.  marlboro, a town that neighbors wilmington, had food and supplies airlifted in yesterday.

yesterday's 'all things considered' on NPR featured an interview with wilmington's town manager, fred ventresco, wherein fred describes the horror of the flood actually happening, and the aftermath the town is left with now.  it's very moving and paints a really vivid picture of what the town has been dealt.

reports today are sounding more positive - this article in the brattleboro reformer shed some positive light.  on the cleanup effort that many are embarking on today.

other resources i'm checking often:

- VT Recovery: http://vtrecovery.com/  A very recently created resource for updates on the current state of things, and recovery and rescue efforts.
- The Town of Wilmington: http://www.wilmingtonvermont.us/ Wilmington's town website, frequently updating on recovery and rescue efforts.
- Deerfield Valley News: http://www.dvalnews.com/ "Southern Vermont's Only Independent Newspaper"

beyond concerns about the safety of the roads and whether or not we'll actually be able to get to wilmington - or at least on the timeline we had planned - i'm not in any way nervous about joining this community at such a harrowing time.  when we visited wilmington, we felt a connection to it, and i still do from afar.  i hope to get involved in the cleanup as best i can once i'm there.  it's such a beautiful place and all of the reports i've heard and read thus far have driven home my sentiment that it's a place with great people.  it will be a difficult, nevertheless unique and wonderful, time to join a community, and i'm excited for what lies ahead.

an aerial view of wilmington, vt posted by the bennington banner.

more photos of the area can be seen here (via wilmington's town website).