Rain Coming is Serious Business!

 I mentioned the weather could get nasty today and tonight - Mother Nature's way of celebrating last year's awful storm damage, I suppose. It's ironic that it is happening on the exact date of that July storm. Cabot Village was hard hit, as were many other towns in our area. Today I received notice about the preparedness measures being taken in our little village to try to mitigate serious damage from this storm. All of that is good, and we will hope for the best.

Home owners here at Joe's Pond should also be aware that there will likely be high water - perhaps not tonight, but if the rain is as heavy as predicted, streams are going to be dumping huge quantities of water into the pond for at least a day or maybe two after the storm subsides. Please secure anything that might float away during high water - boats on lifts, docks that are not securely hitch to shore, water toys, lawn chairs, planters - all sorts of items are easily displaced by high water. If you are not here, have a neighbor or friend check your property and secure floatable objects. Also, be sure boats have moorings that will allow them to rise with the water. If the moorings are too tight (short), the boat may be held down and the water will pour in.

Preparations for Upcoming Weather

By Betty Ritter on July 10, 2024

Hello Neighbors –  A reminder that the rain associated with (former) Hurricane Beryl is headed in our general direction.  Intermittent rain will likely begin around 2PM with the heavier precipitation peaking 6PM-midnight.  Happily, this looks to be a fast-moving storm.  A link for Weather Underground’s forecast is below; current storm totals are expected to be around two inches and Cabot’s stream levels are reasonably low at the moment.  Flood watches have been posted for our area, however, and preparedness is important.  We want to make you aware of the steps we have taken to make sure we are prepared as a community:

• Cabot’s Road Crew has been out flat the last two days making strategic cutouts on key roads to channel water and protect our infrastructure.  Following the workday today, the entire Crew will head for home to have dinner with their families and then return to actively monitor the Village and roads for as long as necessary.
• Equipment will be staged at vulnerable locations to stem/mitigate any potential flooding; the Town excavator and loader will be staged in the Willey Building lot to monitor the downtown culverts and drains; Ben Ackerman will have his equipment by the North Bridge (and Currier home); and Morgan Churchill will watch over us all from the top of Houston Hill.  Thank you, gentlemen!
• Sandbags are being installed this morning in the Village as a precaution to channel runoff water toward the drains.
• Our EMS services (fire and ambulance) are on standby
• We are grateful for our partners at the Cabot School, who will provide emergency facilities if necessary.

The Selectboard, the Road Crew, and Emergency Management will all be closely monitoring today’s weather events and will provide real-time updates as needed.   As a matter of ‘best practice’ please take the time to assess your personal emergency preparedness and keep an eye on your neighbors.  Stay safe and let’s take care of one another.  In Community, Mike, Fred, Skip, RD and Karen. 

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 Home owners here at Joe's Pond should also be aware that there will likely be high water - perhaps not tonight, but if the rain is as heavy as predicted, streams are going to be dumping huge quantities of water into the pond for at least a day, or maybe two, after the storm subsides. Please secure anything that might float away during high water - boats on lifts, docks that are not securely hitched to shore, water toys, lawn chairs, planters - all these items are easily displaced by high water. If you are not here, have a neighbor or friend check your property and secure floatable objects. Also, be sure boats have moorings that will allow them to rise with the water. If the moorings are too tight (short), the boat may be held down and the water will pour in, eventually sinking it, causing serious damage. If a boat gets loose, it can end up going over the dam - that happened to a couple of boats last year, and we don't want it to happen again.

The better prepared we are, the better the chance we will not have serious damage and a lot of cleanup to do later. There may be power outages, especially if the wind picks up after the rain has left the ground super-saturated so trees lose their grip and topple. Also, check your weather map and if you are traveling, a road condition map.

That all I have for you for now. Hoping all this preparation proves to be unnecessary, but as the old saying goes, "Better safe than sorry!" Stay safe and dry.

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