An Ode to Vermont

by Madeleine Kando

We are in beautiful Vermont for Columbus Day weekend. It's that time of year again, when all of New England explodes in an orgy of colors. Indian Summer has come late this year and we have to chase it up the mountain slopes, driving on curvy rural roads, flanked by red barns, black cows and tall silos. The beauty of Vermont is that it is a blend of manicured pastures and majestic hills covered with dense vegetation that is now ablaze with reddish colors in the warm autumn sun.

In August Vermont was hit by hurricane Irene. Roads and bridges were completely wiped out and even though we came to ogle at the beauty of the foliage, we ended up taking many pictures of houses half buried into the ground, bridges dangling in mid-air and river beds filled with fallen trees.

Vermont has achieved something so miraculous that it is worth writing about on this blog. In six weeks' time, this state has recovered from one of the worst natural disasters since the hurricane in 1938. Our host at the bed and breakfast in North Shrewsbury explains some of the reasons for this success story.

Vermont is a farming state which means that all the equipment that was needed to haul debris, repair broken asphalt and dig trenches was readily available. Trucks, pipes, shovels and plows are in everyone's backyard to work the land and so are the people who are used to heavy physical work.

Unlike what happened in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina, people here didn't wait for FEMA to step in. They organized local volunteer crews and started repairs as soon as the water receded. Permits to re-direct rivers and build bridges were appropriately applied for, but the residents didn’t wait for an answer. 'We’ll apologize later' said a Jamaica resident. 'This needs to be done NOW”.

In other words, Vermonters just went ahead and took matters in their own hands. They got together, neighborhood by neighborhood, repaired local roads, borrowed money that later would be repaid by the government's disaster fund, rescued the elderly and the sick and relied on themselves to get things done.

As we drive on to chase the colors of our cherished Indian Summer, traces of the disaster are clearly visible: every mile or so there is a patch of recently repaired highway. Many of the bridges are gone and in some villages, half of the houses are under re-construction. But Vermont made sure that its road infrastructure would be accessible, knowing how important leaf-peaking season is to its economy. They did all that in record-breaking time. I am so impressed, I can barely pay attention to the beauty around me.leave comment here