Mount Snow worker dies in car during flooding

[Nick]

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/...cedonia?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Wilmington Police Chief Joe Szarejko confirmed Monday afternoon that a 20-year-old woman from the Eastern European country of Macedonia drowned when the car she was in became trapped by flooding Sunday from the Deerfield River.

Ivana Taseva, 20, was in southern Vermont on a work program at the Mount Snow ski area in Dover as part of its housekeeping staff, Szarejko said.

She, her boyfriend and two other men came upon an area covered in water while driving Sunday, Szarejko said. They were unable to drive away, the chief said, and the car began to be swept away by the floodwaters. Taseva and her boyfriend tried unsuccessfully to get to higher ground, and while the boyfriend was able to hold onto the car, Taseva was swept away, Szarejko said.

I'm in shock since things here seem so normal, Vermont got really f*(&CK up... sorry for anyone impacted

 

[Glenn]

That's really sad. I feel for her family. I can't even imagine.

 

[Newpylong]

unreal... beyond sad. That area is devastated.

 

[bvibert]

Very sad. RIP

 

[drjeff]

I saw an interview on the Weather Channel last night that Jim Cantore (a native Vermonter) did with the head of the VT DOT. As of last night there were still 11 towns in Vermont inaccessable by road. When JC asked him what town was in the "worst" shape road access wise, without hestitation his answer was "Wilmington" (where this tragic fatality happened) Basically now you can't get to Wilmington from the East, the North, or the West, You need to detour from the South coming up out of basically North Adams, Mass now (and likely for a while given the washouts)

From what I read on a blog about the flooding in the Dover/Wilmington. The car she was in was about 1/2mile North of the center of Wilmington when it was overcome by the rapidly rising flood waters. Her body was found in the fields by the Twin Valley High School in Wilmington, about 1/4 mile South of the center of Wilmington Pictures of the center of Wilmington (where Rte 100 meets Rte 9) at the height of the flooding show that the water level was close to 30 feet above normal levels For those that don't know the geography of the area. Basically from Mount Snow, about 10 miles North of Wilmington, all that rain from Irene was funnelled down the Deerfield River (usually a mild stream that on average is about 50 feet wide or so and maybe a couple of feet deep) towards Wilmington. Along the way, the valley is wide enough that the water spread out as it rose, in places getting a good 1/4 mile outside of its banks as it headed towards Wilmington. In Wilmington the valley that the river runs in gets very narrow, very quickly and all that water stacked up vertically, going in less than 1/2 mile downstream from an area about 1/4mile wide to an area that is about 75 yards wide(the center of Wilmington). With how quickly the rain came down and the water was rising, I heard from friends that were in the area on Sunday that the rate that the water was rising was unbelievable as you got towards Wilmington, practically a foot a minute is what one of my friends told me at its height. Just a tragic event, for her family and the entire Deerfield Valley. The pictures of the devastation are sobering to see

 

[Glenn]

Jeff,
I saw some pics of the road we take from Dummerston to Dover. The Williamsville section is litterally gone in places. The small covered bridge did indeed survive. In some spots, the Rock River took out the entire road and the river is now right up to peoples' front lawns. Unreal. With Rt 9 closed, it's going to be a real challenge to for supplies to get in there. I hope they can work something out soon.

 

[oakapple]

What are you hearing about damage at Mount Snow itself?

 

[drjeff]

What are you hearing about damage at Mount Snow itself?

Mount Snow apparently faired pretty well - some minor water damage here and there, but thats about it. Basically, with the topography of the area, Mount Snow is the high point of the Valley headed either South down towards Wilmington or North towards Wardsboro, and as such while all the rain fell, it didn't have to great of a distance to accumulate and cause the massive flood damage that happened 8 to 10 miles downstream in both directions

 

[Edd]

Sucks even worse when it's an area you care about and are invested in. Sorry to hear this guys. Hope things get better soon.

 

[drjeff]

Sucks even worse when it's an area you care about and are invested in. Sorry to hear this guys. Hope things get better soon.

The part that is just tearing at my heart, has nothing to do with my place (which is high up on the mountainside across the street from Mount Snow and is fine), but is from talking both online and over the phone with friends that are full time residents of the valley. The stories they're telling of their 1st hand accounts and the pictures they're sharing, and the literal pain you can hear in the words is awfull. There's a certain ski instructor, who myself and my family, Vcunning and his family and Glenn and his wife know well. She may be short in stature, but is one of the most positive people you could ever meet. As of last night, she still didn't know the extent of the damage at her place, and chatting with her on facebook last night the sense of hurt was overwhelming What has compounded the hurt for myself is when you hear reports of people in some major metropolitan areas almost complaining that Irene wasn't as bad as forcasted at their residence Those people should stop being such self absorbed a-holes and feel appreciative of how fortunate they were in this storm (sorry to rant)

To also put the devastation into perspective, I received an e-mail from the Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce today strongly urging 2nd home owners NOT to come up this weekend because of the limited infastructure (both roadway access and businesses). Additionally Mount Snow, rightfully so IMHO, decided to cancel their Brewer's Festival this weekend, which typically draws 5-6,000 people over its 2 days because of reasons similar to why the Chamber of Commerce urges folks not to come up this weekend.

 

[Breeze]

The scale of damage in Vermont is hard on the eyes, mind and heart. The topography that we love, those broad vistas of productive farmland, the grazing lands on the FLOOD PLAINS, acutely transition to narrow rocky gorges . There isn't a DOT engineer or an Environmental Impact lobbyist that can change the inherent lay of the land. It is what it is and this Ct River Valley/Inland NE Storm track has historically been treacherous.

I made a decision with my DH Sunday night that we would stand proud at home. Little did we know at the time, but we were already hemmed in because US 2 was closed East and West of us. Best we could have done was move our cars 100 yards up the road and prayed some more.

The pure velocity of water rise in this event challenged even my 25 year homeowner experience, and I'm a freaking flatlander newbie according to my neighbors. A foot jump within a blink of an eye. And another foot, and another foot. Yes that fast.

I know my house has rested on this original foundation since 1814. Rolled the dice one more time.

Breeze

 

[Glenn]

Breeze,
Glad you guys are OK. I can't even imagine watching the water levels go up.

Jeff,
Send her our (Mitz and I) best. Her updates on FB have been spotty and I'm sure she's pretty busy with things. We're certainly thinking of her now.

 

[Abubob]

What has compounded the hurt for myself is when you hear reports of people in some major metropolitan areas almost complaining that Irene wasn't as bad as forcasted at their residence Those people should stop being such self absorbed a-holes and feel appreciative of how fortunate they were in this storm (sorry to rant)

Please don't apologize for the rant.

I have to admit I was disappointed with the storm. I mean, who doesn't like a decent storm? On the other hand, it doesn't take much to change a good storm into a destroyer and killer. If the track were 50 miles to the east we'd be talking about death and destruction in NH instead of VT.

 

[oakapple]

On the Mount Snow blog, there's a new post with photos and a description of the damage.

Their parking lots and the pump house in their snowmaking pond took a big hit, but it certainly appears to be fixable in time for the ski season. The site and equipment for the new 6-pack bubble chairlift did not suffer significant damage. However, due to road closures, supplies and equipment can't get in or out, so the construction schedule is sure to be affected. Hopefully they can still get it open in time.

 

[djspookman]

A former member of the AZ Pats Peak ski team (a fill in) from 3 years ago was struck by a falling tree and was killed as a result of Irene on Monday. We will miss you Seth. Rest in Peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

 

[Nick]

A former member of the AZ Pats Peak ski team (a fill in) from 3 years ago was struck by a falling tree and was killed as a result of Irene on Monday. We will miss you Seth. Rest in Peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Heard that from someone else here a few days ago.... really horrible and sad to hear it

 

[djspookman]

Heard that from someone else here a few years ago.... really horrible and sad to hear it

ah, yes, Roark posted that, he and I raced with Seth 3 years ago. Such a tragic loss, sorry for the repost!

 

[bvibert]

ah, yes, Roark posted that, he and I raced with Seth 3 years ago. Such a tragic loss, sorry for the repost!

No need to apologize. It's a very tragic loss.

 

[snowmonster]

RIP Seth, Ivana and all those we lost during this tragedy. Though, I've lived through a lot of storms, you can't take any one of them for granted. Count your blessings and keep your loved ones safe.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Rt 9 opened last night between Benn and Bratt. It's slow going in spots but you can now "get there from here". Hats off to the all the road crews.