November can turn stormy in a hurry across New England, but if we turn the clock back ninety-six years, there was a particularly destructive weather event in the state of Vermont.
From November 2-4, 1927, a devastating flood inflicted widespread damage and resulted in loss of life. Eighty-five people died and nearly 1,300 bridges were washed away. Transportation and communication across the state were critically hampered for a considerable period of time. A combination of factors came together just right to trigger this unfortunate weather event.
October of 1927 was a very wet period across Vermont with most of the state receiving from 150-300 percent of average rainfall. With vegetation dying off, soil moisture was high and rivers were running dangerously high.
As November began, a cold front was set to produce some light rain. A tropical storm (Seven) on the East Coast of the U.S. was forecast to turn out to sea. Instead, the storm moved right up into New England, and its moisture interacted with the cold front to produce widespread heavy rain. Rainfall totals of 6 to 10 inches (locally 14 inches) were recorded and that was enough to wreak plenty of havoc across Vermont.
This map shows the track of Tropical Storm Seven (with a cold front annotated) … a deadly and destructive combination in early November of 1927. Image Credit – weather.gov.
A Recipe For Disaster
The combination of factors mentioned above, combined with an excessive rain event, was way too much for the environment and for the residents of Vermont to handle. Rain began to fall on the evening of November 2nd. Little did anyone know that the rain wouldn’t end for more than 36 hours.
As a cold front approached, moisture from a tropical storm off the East Coast moved northward into New England. Instead of turning out to sea, the system would eventually make landfall on Long Island and the center world pass just to the west of Vermont.
The combination of the excessive tropical moisture and the cold front, along with orographic lifting from the Green Mountains, set up the heavy rain event. The rain began to fall heavily on November 3rd. As the rain increased dramatically, water began to seep into basements in the town of Barre. Similar reports came from those living along the Winooski River and the creeks and streams that ran into it.
This photo shows floodwaters surrounding the mills in Winooski, Vermont, during the Great Vermont Flood of 1927. Photo Credit-weather.gov.
Two men went into the basement of their store in Barre to save merchandise but the basement next door had already collapsed due to the rushing water, As they tried to run back upstairs they were drowned. Two other men were rescued from the store.
The water rose so rapidly in some communities that people had almost no time to save themselves or their property. By the night of November 3rd, the water on the Winooski River was rising at a rate of 4 feet per hour!
Along the river, a boarding house was swept away and over Bolton Falls. Fifteen people died as a result. People along the river were trapped in buildings. many had to climb to the roofs to just barely escape from drowning. Firemen and Vermont National Guardsmen came to the area and did the best they could to rescue victims, especially in the area where two branches of the Winooski River came together.
The water rise was incredible! Rescuers used large ladders (60 feet) to stretch over the river to the dwellings. They used car headlights to light up the area. They repeated the ladder rescue house by house. Some of the houses were ripped off of their foundations and into the raging river just after the rescues.
According to an article in vtdigger.org in the capital city of Montpelier, floodwaters reached up to the first story of buildings and businesses in the downtown area. The former mayor of the city, Frank Dawley, was able to climb up the shelves along the wall of his workshop. He barely survived trying to hold his head above water for 12 hours!
This photo shows floodwaters up to the first floor of buildings on State Street in Montpelier, Vermont, during the great Vermont Flood of 1927. Photo Credit – Vermont State Archives.
When the storm was over, some people returned to their residences only to find fish swimming in some of their homes and live animals moving around in others.
Unfortunately, one family in Waterbury was trapped in their home during the flood. Firemen tried to rescue them but the fast current was too much. The father tried in vain to get his family to the second floor but the house was ripped off its foundation and was swept into the current and destroyed. The father, his wife, four children, and his mother-in-law all perished.
The rain tapered off on November 4th, but much of the state was left in shambles. There was incredible property damage, including many farms.
This map shows rainfall totals across Vermont in early November of 1927. Map Credit-NWS-Burlington.
Aftermath And Recovery
The devastation brought about by this overwhelming event was beyond belief. Up to eighty-five people were killed in the flood, including 26 in the town of Bolton. The death toll included Vermont Lieutenant Governor S. Hollister, Jackson. Nearly 700 farms were left in ruins. Over 1,700 cows and 7,000 chickens drowned. Over 16,000 bushels of hay were destroyed.
Transportation was hindered for a long period of time. Over 1,200 bridges were badly damaged or washed away and hundreds of miles of railroad tracks were damaged. With railroad travel taken away, many more automobiles were sold across the state in the following year.
This photo shows floodwaters rushing across a highway bridge in Rutland, Vermont, on November 4, 1927. Photo Credit-Vermont Historical Society.
Vermonters always considered themselves self-sufficient but they had to turn to the federal government for assistance. The long road to recovery had begun.
President Calvin Coolidge visited the state during the following year. He said, “I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people.” He praised “the people of this brave little state of Vermont.”
The onset of the Great Depression hindered progress for a while but President Roosevelt helped to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps. CCC workers built a series of dams along branches of the Winooski.
An NOAA report included the following information on flood control projects that continued for decades.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built three flood retention reservoirs and accompanying dams in the Winooski River basin at East Barre, Wrightsville, and Waterbury to try to mitigate the effects of further flooding. In 1949 the Union Village Reservoir and dam on the Ompompanoosuc River were completed. By the early 1960s, four other reservoirs/dams were completed in the Connecticut River basin.
The total cost of this disaster would be over a half-billion dollars (2023) remains the greatest weather disaster in the state’s history. Hopefully, with better flood control and better forecasts Vermont won’t encounter anything like this event again.
