LUDLOW, Vt. — A popular vacation and weekend destination for people who live in Connecticut was one of the hardest hit by floods in Vermont.

Few places in the town of Ludlow, which sits in a valley along Vermont’s Route 103 and the Black River, were spared from flash flooding Monday.

“You can’t even explain it, you see like landslides going down here. I’m honestly at a loss for words, it’s insane,” said Harry Swenson, a weather enthusiast and storm chaser who came from Massachusetts to Vermont for the storm.

Swenson was among the many people who were stuck when the town got cut off by water in either direction.

“When I tried to get out of town last night to go back home, the roads were completely washed out. I actually got stuck,” Swenson said a person who lives in town invited him to stay the night.

The water rushed into the valley, inundating homes and businesses like a storm surge in a hurricane.

Andrew Molen is a chef who owns several businesses in town, including Sam’s Steakhouse on the east side of Ludlow.

“I don’t think the reality has set in yet, as to everything that has happened,” Molen told us. Fox Run Hospitality, his business, has been feeding first responders and residents in need of a meal.

Andrew got an alert on his ring cameras early Monday morning, but by then it was too late.

Sam’s Steakhouse was then under seven feet of water.

“A lot of people were sending me footage, from my own security cameras, of ice machines flipping. I watched the water rise until literally it was a foot from the ceiling,” Molen said.

Bar stools, glasses and bottles are knocked over. Mud and soot cover the ground now.

Okemo Mountain and nearby businesses at the center of town are now the center of a massive mud and rock slide.

“I’m assuming it’s because of the mountain above us, all the stuff just came down. It’s incredible,” said Jayden Garganese, who lives in nearby Springfield and has worked for several years at Okemo Mountain as a ski instructor and lift operator. 

“There are no words for this. Wow? That’s about it,” Garganese said.

All the water that came into Ludlow is now flowing through the Black River, which feeds into the Connecticut River.

As this water works south through the system, it’s responsible for the rising river levels on the Connecticut River in our backyards.

Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at rbreton@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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