Reflections 10 Years after Irene from Mendon, Vermont
Reflections 10 Years after Irene from Mendon, Vermont
by Reilly Brown
On July 14, 2021, twelve residents of Mendon, Vermont gathered to discuss the lasting impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which is approaching its 10 year commemoration. As the Vermont Folklife Center's summer intern, and University of Vermont student, I helped facilitate a group conversation called a story circle. A story circle allows each person to share their own unique experience while also listening to others perspectives. This was my first story circle that I have been a part of, which allowed for me to have a different perspective than everyone else there. Everyone who was present for this story circle also participated in the original story circle right after the storm hit. Since every participant knew each other, it allowed for their conversations to bounce off of each other. The atmosphere was very welcoming which allowed for some short conversations beforehand where residents caught up with one another.
Working on this project from an outsider's perspective allowed me to take a step back and observe the reflections made by everyone about their experience during Irene. When the storm hit 10 years ago, I was just 10 years old and living in New Jersey where I had grown up. I don’t remember much from the event, just that my entire basement flooded and my sisters and I thought it was a good idea to go swimming in knee high water running throughout our basement. Needless to say, our mom was not too pleased with us at the time! After researching the effects of the event in Vermont, it was clear to see that there was similar damage done here too. The opportunity to look at the impact of Irene as a story circle observer allowed me to witness the importance of community and helping out your neighbors.
How Route 4 Brought a Whole Community Together
Washed out Route 4 (Source: Mendon Historical Society, 2012 )
Nancy Gandella: You look at the embankments of the rivers and the trees falling into them and they slowly erode away with every rainstorm that we have. And you drive the roads and every embankment that you see that is rock lined. You say that that was from Irene and that was from Irene and that was from Irene. This road was gone and that road was gone and that doesn't go away. After 10 years, you still drive these roads and you think that the disaster is still there, the signs are still there and that doesn't go away.
The Mendon story circle participants discussed the impact the road had on their community as well. It took Mendon just 18 days to rebuild that road because people from neighboring towns that weren’t affected by the storm were there to help rebuild what was lost. When the road was mentioned throughout the story circle, we could see that the residents took much pride in how fast they were able to rebuild the road. Route 4 was the centerpiece of this community in Mendon.
“I had a lot of adventures with Doug Casella, who is the chief guy putting Route 4 back together in 18 days, which is part of a miracle.”
Main street businesses and historic sites in Vermont were demolished, such as Dot's restaurant in Wilmington, an hour and a half south from Mendon. As described in The Waterbury Record, the local newspaper, this historic site withstood the great flood of 1938, only to be destroyed during Irene. Similarly to Mendon, although they were hit hard by the storm, they were able to rebuild, and are now open for business to their community.
Another participant in the story circle, Sara Tully, a resident who works for the town of Mendon, recounts the years worth of paperwork for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that had to be completed because of the damage caused by the storm.
Sara Tully: It didn't end after Route 4 was open. We were charged with working with FEMA and completing the paperwork which extended multiple years into the future. And I think we finally completed most of the paperwork about a year ago.
It is truly incredible to see how the impact of the storm, even years later, can be seen by the residents whenever they drive through their town.
“Community spirit come together”
“..Everybody dove in and it was great to see that community spirit come together”
Nancy Gandella with a Euclid truck (Source: Mendon Historical Society, 2012)
As a story circle observer, I learned that although this was a tragedy, there was also so much room for people to work together and experience this event as a whole rather than alone. Throughout the Mendon story circle, it was clear that the participants were excited to be reunited with one another and have the opportunity to catch up. The energy and mood before we began was very calm and relaxed, and everyone had chatted with one another. The participants discussed the importance of a community and how helpful it is to have that during times such as this. Larry Courselle described Mendon as “the beacon for any other town” because of the community support and the way that they handled the storm. He’s confident that if another storm like this were to happen again, he can count on the people of Mendon to work together again. Today, the residents of Mendon who were affected by the storm say that they are more prepared now for similar events that might happen in the future. Whether that be another natural disaster, or something like Covid, the people of Mendon know how to come together as a community.
Cort Jones: If we had an Irene tomorrow, you'd see the same people out there doing the same stuff all over again. And I'm not fearful of the community not coming right back together again. I know we would have complete faith in this group and everybody who lives in this town that if we had an Irene and we probably will someday, that everybody will come back out of the woods and do what they got to do to make it work. So hopefully you don't lose your front yard again.
Thank you to all who participated in the story circle from Mendon.
Check out the audio documentary Weathering the Storm (2010), produced by Aylie Baker for the Vermont Folklife Center to mark the 1st year anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene. For more information and images of recovery efforts collected by the Mendon Historical Society, check out the Irene Digital Memory Project.
For more information on story circles and how to host your own, click here.