As the region enters flood season, summer camps are in full swing. Kids come to the Green Mountains for engagement while school is out. It comes at a time when experts say climate change is causing extreme weather to intensify. NBC 5 spoke with two camps on Monday, who said they have had a great start to the summer, but, as always, safety comes first. “We err on the side of caution for everything,” Jed Byrom, director of the Sangamon Camp for Boys in Pittsford, said. Byrom said when severe weather hits, all campers relocate inside. Thanks to the elevation, Byrom said they have not had major property damage in previous flood events that impacted the state. They have mostly impacted the trips the campers go on. However, flooding has caused issues with camp supplies, as it has for many. “That gets hard to do when all the roads are washed out sort of towards Boston. A few years ago, we, you know, we pivot, we have connections,” Byrom said. Byrom explained that local farmers stepped up to provide food to the camp. Other Vermont camps are more flood-prone. Dean Spencer, the co-director of Killooleet Camp in Hancock, said when tropical storm Irene hit the state, the nearby White River was able to cover the access road. The state helped with mitigation after, and the Killooleet Lake dam is able to be opened when necessary. It allows the water to run back into the river downstream. Since Irene, they have not seen anything as severe. “We can get ahead of the massive amount of water that will come through,” Spencer said. A bridge providing access to a camp barn was destroyed multiple times by flooding. The latest installment is able to be removed if the river runs too high. In flood events, Killooleet campers’ cabins and other buildings have not been touched by rising water in the past. If we’re too, campers and staff would be able to climb the nearby hill to reach even higher. Both Byrom and Spencer said the Vermont camping community is tight-knit and that they support each other even at the worst of times. “We all know somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody, and our thoughts are with camps that have suffered from this stuff. We are grateful for what we have in Vermont,” Byrom said. In any flood event, finding areas of higher elevation is best for one’s safety.
As the region enters flood season, summer camps are in full swing. Kids come to the Green Mountains for engagement while school is out.
It comes at a time when experts say climate change is causing extreme weather to intensify. NBC 5 spoke with two camps on Monday, who said they have had a great start to the summer, but, as always, safety comes first.
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“We err on the side of caution for everything,” Jed Byrom, director of the Sangamon Camp for Boys in Pittsford, said.
Byrom said when severe weather hits, all campers relocate inside. Thanks to the elevation, Byrom said they have not had major property damage in previous flood events that impacted the state. They have mostly impacted the trips the campers go on. However, flooding has caused issues with camp supplies, as it has for many.
“That gets hard to do when all the roads are washed out sort of towards Boston. A few years ago, we, you know, we pivot, we have connections,” Byrom said.
Byrom explained that local farmers stepped up to provide food to the camp.
Other Vermont camps are more flood-prone. Dean Spencer, the co-director of Killooleet Camp in Hancock, said when tropical storm Irene hit the state, the nearby White River was able to cover the access road.
The state helped with mitigation after, and the Killooleet Lake dam is able to be opened when necessary. It allows the water to run back into the river downstream. Since Irene, they have not seen anything as severe.
“We can get ahead of the massive amount of water that will come through,” Spencer said.
A bridge providing access to a camp barn was destroyed multiple times by flooding. The latest installment is able to be removed if the river runs too high. In flood events, Killooleet campers’ cabins and other buildings have not been touched by rising water in the past. If we’re too, campers and staff would be able to climb the nearby hill to reach even higher.
Both Byrom and Spencer said the Vermont camping community is tight-knit and that they support each other even at the worst of times.
“We all know somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody, and our thoughts are with camps that have suffered from this stuff. We are grateful for what we have in Vermont,” Byrom said.
In any flood event, finding areas of higher elevation is best for one’s safety.
