Students document the worst flood in decades

— -- Like so many residents of northern Vermont, Sadie Bolger, 13, of Moretown, says her most powerful memory of the Aug. 28 was how fast the water rose. One minute, she was looking at the Winooski River. The next, it was overflowing Route 100 and headed toward her house.

Bolger's recollections are part of the Hurricane Irene Flood Project launched by students in Sarah Ibson's eighth-grade social studies class at South Harwood Union Middle School in South Duxbury. In conjunction with Jacki McCarty's language arts class, they're working to preserve stories about the flood for future generations.

Shane Feckert, 14, of Moretown, says the flood dumped four feet of water in his family's basement. "I just remember looking out the window and thinking 'Is this ever going to stop coming up?' he says. "Our trampoline was being swamped. It was amazing."

Eli Leppla, 14, of Waitsfield, says his family was in Minnesota when the flood hit. His family cut short their trip. Their home was spared, but the damage was "much worse than I had imagined," Leppla said. "It didn't even look like our town anymore."

There were moments of humor. Anna Van Dine, 14, of Moretown, whose home was unaffected, recalls seeing a watermelon washed up on the rocks near the river. A young man climbed the rocks, grabbed the watermelon "and held it triumphantly over his head," she says. The onlookers applauded.

Bolger says the flood poured seven feet of water in her family's basement. The contents, including long-time family mementos, were carried away when the water receded. But there's an upside . "We've been meaning for a long time to get some stuff out of our basement. It's kind of like a re-renovation."

The students are working on five documentaries about the flood. Here's the first: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vn5bmEhm7o