Rain, Rain, Go Away . . .

The Summer of 2024 in Vermont will be remembered for the excess heat and rain. We have to wonder if this will be the new "normal" here in the future.

As people are still struggling with cleaning up from our last big rain - especially in the villages along the Connecticut River and the streams feeding into it, we are faced with yet another period of rain - possibly another 1.5 - 2 inches, if the predictions are right. This doesn't seem like a lot compared to the 8 inches in a period of about three hours that we had a couple of weeks ago, but adding even that relatively small amount of water to the still soggy earth and swollen lakes, ponds, and streams, could mean more property damage. 

In Cabot there is a newly-discovered potential danger with more rain coming. There is a very old  mill site with a dam that creates West Hill Pond, not far from Lower Cabot. The pond is small, covering about 48 acres, and it's depth is normally between 10 and 12 ft. This photo shows some of the stone work near the dam; the red house with white trim is the old mill site, nicely renovated. The property is located at the four corners of the road to Woodbury, Bothfeld Hill Road, Coit's Pond Road and West Hill Pond Road. Because of all the water and pressure on the old dam, experts were recently called in to examine the structure. The report came back this week, and there is cause for concern. Here is a more detailed report: West Hill Pond Dam Report, Cabot, Vermont.

If the dam went out, water would rush down the valley towards Lower Cabot, probably doing severe damage to many of the homes along the way, and would likely wash out sections of West Hill Pond Road and damage or wash out the bridge at Route 215S. Some homes in Lower Cabot could also be damaged. 

At this point, with rain coming tomorrow, we can only hope that the dam holds. Please be careful and stay safe!