The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-07-09
-FOUR AND ONE HALF
INCHES Of RAIN
IN z 0 HOURS
Thursdays Storm One of the
Heaviest Recorded in Years
CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO CROPS
Extensive Repairs VIII Be Necessary
on Highways in Woodford and
on Bennington Flats.

! While no one individual viii be a
| heavy loser the amount of damage
caused by the heavy rain of Thurs
| day afternoon will be considerable.
| There was a heavy downpour during
the entire afternoon and when the ac
emulation from the large and preci-
pitous watershed east of the village
began to pour through the valley the
Roaring Branch began to overflow its
banks.
For about two hours the water in
the stream continued to rise being at
its highest point about z o'clock. The
rain had at that time ceased and the
food soon began to subside.
Myron f. Stratton states that he
carefully measured the rainfall for
the 90 hours preceding 6 o'clock in
the evening and found the total to be
4 aud Ii inches. This exceeds by a
fraction OF an inch the fall during the
freshet of 1898 when the Bennington
and Glastonbury railroad was de-
stroyed and the great washout was
created on County street. That more
damage did not result is due to the
persistent work that was kept up
during the past Is years by Select
man +. NJ. Crawford on the river bed.
The constant clearing out of bouders
maintained a channel and the water
Thursday did not overflow the banks
to any considerable extent within
the village limits.
Shortly before O'clock Robert o..
Oaks who lives on Grove street tele-
phoned to Village Clerk w. p. Ho-
gan that the stream was overlooking
its banks near his home and there
was danger that the food would tear
out a new course as had been the
case on the occasion of previous
freshets. The selectmen were in SEES
sion and securing an automobile they
hurried to the scene. Realizing that
something must be done at once word
was sent TO Chief Harry B. Spear of
the fire department who turned in an
emergency alarm. number of
men responded and with the assist
ance of the village team wall of
small boulders and earth, was built
along the bank.
Early in the evening as the water
continued to rise another alarm was
rung in and between 10 and 20 men
responded. They were able to keep
the stream from getting out of its
course and not a large amount of
damage was caused in this locality.
although the street will need some
repairing.
The highway west of the red bridge
in the locality known as "The Flats"
was impossible for several hours and
trolley service over the Bennington
and Hoosick Valley branch of the
Berkshire system was suspended for
several hours. Some of the crops
on the low land were badly damaged
if not ruined and there is a consider
able section of highway from which
the surface was entirely washed
away.
The iron trolly line bridge near
the Vermont soldiers home has set
tied about Is inches, making it neces
sary to transfer passengers The
water was so high on the meadows
north of the soldiers home during
the afternoon that at one time all the
patients in the hospital were moved
to other quarters in the buildings.
By far the worst destruction was
| wrought in highway east of the red
| bridge on the Woodford road. Here
| the road was ripped out for depth
of two feet or more and the repairs
will be expensive. One of the
abutments on the bridge near the Ed
| ward Bushnell farm was damaged,
but has been made passable by the
use of props.
| The town of Woodford will be the
heaviest sufferer from the flood in
| this vicinity. The town has not lost
bridge but the structure over the
| Dunville stream is damaged. One
stringer is down and an abutment
| has been undermined. 1t will require
the expenditure of considerable
money to repair the damage to the
| highways in the town, as the main
valley is narrow and the water came
through with more force than in the
open country.