PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

We begin tonight with two major stories here at home and abroad.

In Europe, leaders of the NATO alliance are gathered in Lithuania with Ukraine battling to become a full-fledged member.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, in New England, a storm for the ages has ravaged Vermont.

There have been no deaths or injuries, but property damage could reach the tens of millions of dollars, and parts of the state capital are underwater.

It was a storm that dumped nearly an entire summer's worth of rain in a matter of days, Vermont hit with the same slow-moving storm pattern that devastated parts of New York yesterday, as it headed north through New England.

By late last night, mountain towns across the state were inundated with up to nine inches of rainwater.

As rivers crested toward record-breaking heights, the violent streams swallowed cars and inched closer and closer to people's homes.

Eyewitness video from the town of Jamaica showed furniture and other household items being swept away by the floodwaters.

GOV.

PHIL SCOTT (R-VT): Good morning, everyone.

GEOFF BENNETT: Vermont Governor Phil Scott spoke today from the state's emergency response center shortly after President Biden declared a state of emergency.

GOV.

PHIL SCOTT: I know thousands of Vermonters have lost homes, businesses and more.

The devastation is far-reaching.

GEOFF BENNETT: Officials have likened this latest downpour to Tropical Storm Irene, which caused destructive flash floods in 2011 and killed eight people in Vermont.

So far, crews have rescued more than 100 people from knee-deep water.

And, in Montpelier, the state's capital, officials warned that the Wrightsville Dam just a few miles upstream is dangerously close to overflowing for the first time.

That would unleash even more water throughout the city, home to more than 8,000 residents already swamped.

WOMAN: Oh, I wouldn't trust that road.

Ooh.

GEOFF BENNETT: The floods have also shut down dozens of key routes throughout the state, from winding roads along the spine of the Green Mountains to the main drags of downtown areas.

Closures have made access to the damaged areas increasingly difficult.

This morning, Governor Scott said on Twitter that the roads around his House were completely impassable, forcing him to use nearby hiking trails for his work commute.

At the state's emergency response center, he warned of more flooding to come, despite signs that the rain has started to let up.

GOV.

PHIL SCOTT: Even though the sun may shine later today and tomorrow, we expect more rain later this week, which will have nowhere to go in the oversaturated ground.

So, I want to be clear, we are not out of the woods.