Weeks after the floods, Vermont businesses are struggling to get visitors to return

BURKE, Vermont (AP) — Two floods following storms in July have impacted businesses and tourist destinations in an economically depressed region of northern Vermont. Some remain closed as damage is repaired, while others are urging visitors deterred by the weather to make the trip.

Kingdom Trails, a popular destination for mountain bikers, attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year, but storms that hit the region on July 10 and 30 washed away some roads and bridges, damaged homes and trails and deterred visitors at the height of the season.

Businesses and tourist destinations are cleaning up the rubble. In nearby Lyndonville, some are still closed, while others are spreading the word that they are open.

“I can't stress enough that we are open and our community is welcoming people,” said Abby Long, executive director of Kingdom Trails. “We encourage people to not only visit Kingdom Trails and have a great time, but to also volunteer to clean out and declutter houses in the morning and then relax on the trails in the afternoon.”

The storms caused $300,000 in damage to the trails — and that doesn't include the loss of membership fees, she said. The trails were closed for about a day and a half while crews worked feverishly to reopen them. The repair costs are in addition to the $150,000 in damage caused by last summer's flooding.

“This is not sustainable,” Long said.

According to Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein, 341 businesses in Vermont have reported flood damage so far this year. Last summer, about 1,100 businesses were affected, she said.

In Lyndonville, a popular diner that has been in operation since 1978 will not reopen after damage from the July 10 storms. The owner of the Miss Lyndonville Diner is making repairs and plans to sell the restaurant. She told the Caledonian Record the flooding convinced her it was time to retire.

Nearby Village Sport Shop, which has also been in business for nearly 50 years, has decided to close its flooded Lyndonville store and get out of the ski business, according to a social media post from the company.

“Given the numerous floods we have endured and the evolution we have gone through as a company, we have come to the conclusion that it is time to shift our focus to the summer side of the business and remove ourselves from the flood risks faced by the lowest-lying properties on the Strip,” the post said. The company operates a trailside bike shop in East Burke.

A bagel shop and a Walgreens drugstore remained temporarily closed due to flood damage.

In May, Vermont became the first state to pass a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a portion of the damage caused by extreme weather events resulting from climate change, but officials acknowledged that collecting the money would depend on lawsuits against a far better-funded oil industry.

In Burke, a town of about 1,650 residents and home to the Burke Mountain ski area, Kingdom Trails is a huge economic driver, said Town Administrator Jim Sullivan.

“It's traumatic, it's unbelievable the impact it's having,” he said. “When Kingdom Trails can't open, people are canceling their reservations at Airbnbs and inns. We have restaurants that count on all these people coming here. And it's just a chain event that eventually dies down when you have these absolutely beautiful days and there just aren't as many people here as we would normally have if there wasn't this devastation.”

The East Burke Market had a really good summer, but when the trails closed, “business came to an abrupt halt,” said co-owner Burton Hinton.

Each of the storms caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in road and property damage, Sullivan said. The city lost a bridge in the July 10 flood and the entire mountain road in the storm a few weeks later, he said.

“We're still waiting for instructions from the federal government. In the meantime, everyone has really come together and done a great job of helping each other. Real community,” he said.

About 60 student athletes who compete in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League cross-country mountain bike races and 40 coaches were in Burke training at Kingdom Trails when the recent flooding struck on July 30.

The group had to switch to gravel for a few days, but then some trails quickly reopened, said Michael Morrell of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, who accompanied them.

“The trail system up here and the trail workers are just so efficient and the trails, many of the trails, are very well drained,” he said Aug. 1.

Still, he said he felt terribly sorry for those who depend on getting tourists to visit local hiking trails.

“I'm so sorry their roads are closed,” Morrell said. “… We're just glad we can help them in any way we can.”