(Host) Vermont is littered with flooding this morning.
Torrential rains from Tropical Storm Irene washed through the state and flooded towns from Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury.
About 50,000 homes and businesses are without power at this hour. Dozens of people stayed overnight at a series of emergency shelters.
And roads are in miserable shape. Nearly every major highway in the state has been damaged. There are washouts and bridge failures.
Town roads are almost as bad.
Even the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Waterbury had to be evacuated when the Winooski River flooded the state public safety building.
Now state officials worry about additional problems as people take a look at the aftermath of the floods.
Mike O’Neill is director of Vermont Emergency Management.
(O’Neill) People coming out of the storm thinking we’ll go sightseeing and those types of things is a huge concern for us because it’s very dangerous. The one reported injury that we have so far was someone trying to go through moving water, which is extremely dangerous and that’s a concern for us."
(Host) O’Neill referred to a 21-year-old woman who was swept away in the floodwaters of the Deerfield River in Wilmington.
A body has been recovered, but state officials say they haven’t confirmed the victim’s identity.