Hurricane Beryl's remnants flood Vermont a year after the state was hit by catastrophic rainfall

MARSHFIELD, Vt. (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl brought flooding to Vermont that led to frantic evacuations, knocked down bridges and washed away an apartment building. The disaster came a year to the day after catastrophic rainfall inundated parts of the state.

Roads were flooded, washed out or covered with debris after heavy rain that started Wednesday and persisted into Thursday. Rescues were reported Wednesday night, and some communities were under evacuation orders.

In Plainfield, residents of a six-unit apartment building had only 15 minutes to evacuate before the entire structure was swept away by floodwaters that also took out at least seven bridges and left many roads impassable and people stranded, said town Emergency Management Director Michael Billingsley. One car was swept away, but the occupant escaped, he said.

Across the state, emergency workers assessed damage Thursday morning, and Billingsley said it could take several days to know the full extent. Areas of central Vermont, which was hit hard by last July’s flooding, suffered some of the heaviest damage. Roads and homes were also reportedly flooded in the city of Barre.

There were no immediate reports of any deaths in Vermont.

Beryl landed in Texas on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and left millions in the Houston area without power. It then carved a path across the interior U.S. as a post-tropical cyclone that brought flooding and sometimes tornadoes from the Great Lakes to Canada and northern New England.

Parts of northern New York and New England, including Vermont, remained under flood watches or warnings early Thursday. Thunderstorms associated with Beryl were forecast for much of the East Coast through Friday, the National Weather Service said.

Vermont Emergency Management said Wednesday night there had been an unspecified number of evacuations and road closures due to flooding, primarily in the central part of the state.

“Vermonters and visitors are encouraged to seek higher ground should floodwaters approach,” the statement said. Rescue teams and the National Guard were at the ready, the agency said.

The weather service had said Wednesday that the storm “will not be like last