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- Remember the summer of '23?

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(screen rumbling)

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Phoenix was blistering,

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at least 110 degrees 
for 31 days in a row.

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(gentle rhythmic music)

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New York City skies were 
choked out with orange smoke

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due to Canadian forest fires,

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and LA, normally 
stricken by drought,

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(thunder crashing)

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was flooded.

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These are all cities we 
know of, and to be honest,

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we expect to get hit by 
extreme climate weather.

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They're either too 
hot or too dry,

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or located too close to water.

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But what about a 
place like Vermont?

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After all, scientists have 
predicted that this area

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should be spared from the 
worst of climate change.

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But in 2023, the summer of hell

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also landed in the 
Green Mountain State,

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(water crashing)

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and suddenly, it feels 
like nowhere is safe.

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(soft rhythmic music)

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(thunder crashing) 
(rain splattering)

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As climate change 
rattles our country,

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people have been looking 
towards climate havens;

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places with geography that 
makes them more resilient

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to the worst effects of 
the changing climate.

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Vermont has consistently 
appeared on that list,

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but this summer,

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that perception was shattered 
for a lot of Vermonters.

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- Huh. 
(somber music)

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Where we're standing right now,

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kind of the epicenter 
of flooding activities 
in Montpelier.

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- [Presenter] In only 48 
hours, parts of Central Vermont

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received a shocking 
nine inches of rain,

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causing rivers to overflow 
and inundating some areas

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with well over 
three feet of water.

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- This was an incredibly 
powerful event.

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Water was rushing 
through the streets,

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it washed out roads and 
ripped through businesses

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and residents' and 
state buildings,

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(cars honking) 
(alarm beeping)

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and here in Montpelier, 
inundated the downtown.

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- [Presenter] But as anyone 
who's endured a flood

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can tell you, 
(intense music)

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raging water is 
just the beginning.

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Pungent, contaminated water 
stagnated in downtown Montpelier

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for days.

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Two weeks later, the 
residents are just beginning

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to understand the 
scope of the damage.

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(hammer banging)

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- Here we go. We got 
it. So, watch your step.

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So you see how you 
already have mold?

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This is all already mold, 
and this is what happens

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when porous material gets 
saturated with water,

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with bacteria in it.

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All of these contents, were 
under about 10 feet of water,

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all the way up.

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All this has gotta 
be thrown out.

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(somber music)

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- It's amazing to me what 
decades of a town look like

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when you put it all 
out on the street.

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- [Presenter] In the end, 
residents across the state

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reported more than 4,000 
homes and 800 businesses

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were damaged.

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Around 275 of those buildings 
were in downtown Montpelier.

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- Here we are at 
Montpelier City Hall.

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The downstairs was 
completely flooded.

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Everywhere we look is 
destruction from the flood.

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- At the library, we see seven 
and a half feet of water,

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and the books just stuck,

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completely racked 
in the basements,

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and also our electrical, 
our phones, our internet,

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all those expensive 
components were all destroyed.

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- This store was 
kind of my dream.

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The daunting part about 
reopening is finding the capital

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and the cash to reopen.

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The only options for us right 
now is a small business loan,

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and a lot of the loan products 
that they're offering,

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we're still trying to pay off

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from when we had to take 
them out through COVID.

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- It's trauma, what we 
experienced as a community.

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We all know each other, 
we're all friends,

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and it's just 
really overwhelming

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because everyone, their 
livelihoods, their hopes,

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their dreams, are just 
sort of destroyed.

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Yeah.

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- All the residents and 
the businesses impacted,

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you know, are all ultimately 
gonna have a choice to make

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as to whether or 
not to come back.

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- [Presenter] But for 
many business owners,

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that decision to rebuild 
is not an easy one.

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(church bells ringing)

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Montpelier was built on a 
floodplain. It will flood again.

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The question is, how often?

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- Last time we had a major 
flooding disaster like this,

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they referred to it, of course, 
as the hundred year storm,

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(water crashing)

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and that was only 12 years ago.

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So I think it's time

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we stop calling them 
a hundred year storms

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because this is the new 
normal in a changing climate.

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(gentle music)

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- [Presenter] Tom 
Rogers is a member

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of the Stowe 
Mountain Rescue Team.

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They were active in the 
area during the flooding.

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- It's my job to 
respond to incidences

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like the flooding we 
had a couple weeks ago

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where people need to be rescued,

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when their lives and 
safety are in danger.

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When I first joined 
the team 11 years ago,

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we would average about 
30, maybe 40 calls a year.

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35 was about average,

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and now we're usually 
much more around 60.

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Part of that is because 
we are getting disasters

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more frequently 
and more intensely,

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and I just see that being 
our future more and more.

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It's gonna be very 
difficult for all of us

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to do everything we can 
to keep people safe.

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- So what exactly is going on?

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How did this safe haven 
become a disaster zone?

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(water trickling)

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Jon Erickson is a Professor 
of Sustainability, Science,

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and Policy.

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He says a big factor 
is Vermont's geography,

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and where its small 
towns were founded.

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- So in a place like Vermont,

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the easiest place to 
build was along the river.

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That's where the land was flat.

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That's where the 
land was fertile.

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Historically, our 
rivers meander.

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They move from one edge of 
the river valley to another,

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and when they're 
allowed to do that,

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they can take their water and 
put them into floodplains.

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Flood pains are, in 
essence, like a big sponge.

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They fill with water, 
(curious music)

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and then that water 
slowly seeps underground.

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As we've built our cities, 
we straightened our rivers,

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we channelized our rivers, 
and we urbanized our rivers.

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We've disconnected them 
from their floodplains.

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When a big storm 
event comes along,

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those straight shots 
become fire hoses.

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So when it goes over its bank, 
it doesn't hit floodplains,

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it hits pavement, and the 
water's got no place to go.

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- [Presenter] But 
artificially shaped rivers

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are only one factor 
causing Vermont to flood.

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(water trickling)

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The other cause: climate change.

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- So it's July, 2023.

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We are living, right now, 
through the hottest month

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in recorded history.

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(intense music) 
(thunder booming)

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Warmer air temperatures 
can hold more water.

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More water means more rain.

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That intense rainfall 
needs some place to go.

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If you take Montpelier,

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they got as much rain 
in a 48 hour period

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than they usually do in 
the entire month of July.

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Our systems here in Vermont

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weren't designed for 
rainstorms of 9, 10, 11 inches

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in a 48 hour period.

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- Of course, Montpelier 
isn't unique.

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Most of the towns and cities 
we've built around the world

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aren't designed to 
withstand these new patterns

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of extreme weather events.

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- No matter who you are, 
no matter where you live,

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you can't hide from 
climate change.

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We built the entire 
human civilization

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during a very stable 
climate period.

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As we've cranked up the 
probabilities of bigger,

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more extreme weather 
events to occur,

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(curious music) 
(waves crashing)

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our human systems weren't 
designed for that.

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(church bells ringing)

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- [Presenter] So, what 
are the solutions?

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If there aren't any safe havens,

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can we at least make our 
existing cities safer?

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- We know that Montpelier 
is vulnerable to flooding

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because we've built 
on the rivers.

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I don't think it's 
realistic to expect

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that we're gonna take 
downtown Montpelier

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and move it somewhere else.

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However, there are things 
we can do to try to make

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our buildings and our 
downtown more resilient.

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(gentle music)

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- [Presenter] Places 
like Montpelier know

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that devastating floods will 
happen again, and more often.

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- If this happens a 
couple more times,

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in a short period of time, 
there will be no Montpelier.

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- [Presenter] So this 
community has come together

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for an urgent discussion 
on how to rebuild.

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- We're in an extremely unique 
position here in Montpelier,

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right now.

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We can make a big 
difference around the world

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if we can come up with an idea,

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which clearly moves 
people's context of flooding

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and national 
emergencies forward.

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- [Presenter] And lots of 
ideas are on the table.

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Building roads that 
can handle flooding,

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moving utilities 
out of basements,

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and relocating 
key infrastructure

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away from flood-prone areas.

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But one proposal wouldn't 
happen in the city at all.

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It would happen upstream, 
allowing the waterways access

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to their historic floodplains.

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- So the floodplain 
is doing its job,

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it's taking all that extra water

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and storing it to when the 
river can handle it again.

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This is economic protection.

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This is protecting the 
downstream community

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from this onslaught of water.

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- But those changes, they'll 
take years to accomplish.

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What about the people 
being affected, right now?

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(gentle music)

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- The front entrance 
here, it's, you know,

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the floodline is 
about here, somewhere.

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- [Presenter] Greg Quetel lives 
in a mobile home community,

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just outside of Montpelier.

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He lost almost everything.

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- You know, if this was located 
somewhere a little higher,

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I would stay here 
forever, probably.

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You know, after about 20 years, 
you get attached to a place.

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So, it's tough.

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- Whenever I'm talking about 
mobile home park communities,

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I always like to emphasize 
how important they are to have

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as part of our affordable 
housing landscape.

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Unfortunately, while 4% of 
single family homes in Vermont

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are in flood prone areas,

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with mobile homes 
and parks, it's 12%.

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- [Presenter] This 
is Kelly Hamshaw,

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a researcher studying 
mobile home park communities

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and their resilience 
to climate change.

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Currently, Kelly and her 
team are helping people

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who lost their mobile homes, 
figure out what to do next.

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Before the flood, they'd also 
been working with residents

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to assess the risk associated 
with living in a floodplain.

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- I feel like no 
home should be here.

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You know, I feel like 
this is a good time

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to raise these houses up and 
do some prevention around here.

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- [Presenter] Unfortunately, 
moving a mobile home

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can be way too expensive.

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So for many people, their 
homes are mobile in name only.

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- You know, when 
we're thinking about

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who is living in 
flood prone areas,

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we're thinking about folks

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who may not have 
the economic means

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to be able to build 
back their lives.

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00:11:21,447 --> 00:11:23,082
- I hope there aren't 
too many people

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that fit into that category

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where they would have 
to move back in here.

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That would be horrible for them,

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because chances are they'll 
go through this again

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in another 10, 15 years.

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- One of the things that 
I've been thinking a lot

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as we're talking with folks

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about where they're 
going to live next,

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I really come back to we 
need more affordable housing

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in areas that are 
out of harm's way.

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(dogs barking)

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- Vermont's experience reminds 
us that there's no such thing

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as a perfect safe haven from 
the effects of climate change.

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We're gonna have to adapt 
to this new climate reality,

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protect our most vulnerable,

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and make sure we're working 
to solve the bigger issue.

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(somber music)

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- Do I believe in 
climate change?

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It really doesn't matter 
what the cause is,

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as far as I care, 
because it's happening.

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I think we have a 
responsibility, either way,

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to take a look at 
what's happening,

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and if we have 
anything to do with it,

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do something about it.

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(birds chirping)

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(water trickling)

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- Thanks for watching.

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00:12:39,692 --> 00:12:41,060
Be sure to check out more

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00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:43,629
from Season 2 of 
"America Outdoors"

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00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:45,431
with Baratunde Thurston.

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00:12:45,431 --> 00:12:47,633
You can find the 
show in the PBS app,

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on your PBS local station,

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00:12:49,869 --> 00:12:52,338
or check the link in 
the description below.

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00:12:52,338 --> 00:12:54,373
We've got a link 
to a full episode

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00:12:54,373 --> 00:12:56,542
and a lot more information 
about the series.