Aftermath

I was hoping to post daily after Irene hit us. That didn't happen. Apparently touring a thousand square miles of a disaster area across two states seems to eat up a lot of time. I'll try to catch up a bit now that things have calmed down.

The storm hit Sunday into Monday, by Tuesday most of the waters had receded. They left behind a wake of boulders, trees, and shattered lives. It struck very close to home for me. The town I live in was hit hard but thankfully the waters stopped just shy of my driveway. A coworker and fellow photog was not so lucky. Parts of his home were left with six feet of water in them. I spent that Wednesday helping him and his family clear out destroyed belongings and tear down flood damaged walls. It was a scene that played out all around the state.

Courtesy: Tammy Messier

Saturday I found myself searching Washington county for a story. The first few didn't pan out but eventually I found myself putting my news truck into park next to a recently gutted house surrounded by Cadets from Norwich University. A call for help had gone out in the small town of Northfield, home to Norwich, and it was answered within hours by hundreds of Cadets They're called "Rooks", the first year Cadets that are normally not allowed off campus for their entire first year. They aren't allowed internet access, TV, and are kept to a strict schedule for their first year of education. Yet here they were, miles from campus ripping out dry wall, removing refrigerators inundated with the fine silty mud left behind after a flood.                            

Courtesy: Tammy Messier

 It was the same mud that sat two feet deep in the basement of this house until these young men and woman climbed a narrow wooden ladder to shovel it out one bucket at a time all the while singing at the top of their lungs. Those that heard them described the sound of the songs as "Merry." I unfortunately missed the singing but I was there to witness the work they had done in such a short amount of time. The owner of this home said the cadets had done an entire weeks worth of work in just hours. They went house to house for a week assisting those in need of an extra hand.

It wasn't just a small group of Military tracked University students helping. All around Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire people put on gloves and helped their neighbors, friends, and strangers. I spent more than a week covering similar stories and seeing the destruction left behind. Each time I saw the same thing, people helping people. 

A small disclaimer; I didn't get to write or Edit this anchor PKG. I do claim responsibility for everything else.