St. Johnsbury Press Release

St. Johnsbury Press Release August 9th, 2024 at 4 pm



Preparations for Hurricane Debby: Sand bags can be picked up at the Public Works Garage at 217 Almshouse road. If full bags are not available residents can fill bags themselves. 

The Fairbanks Museum Meteorology department has met with Town Officials to provide weather updates and will continue to update us at the storm develops. Storm information can be found at the following links:

National Hurricane Center Debby Page -https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start#contents

NOAA Quantitative Precipitation Forecast - https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/day1-7.shtml

Northeast River Forecast Center River Gauge Page - https://www.weather.gov/nerfc/

Although the weather forecast is improving, there is still risk of thunderstorms developing which could result in flash flooding. In an abundance of caution we are anticipating minor flooding in St Johnsbury Center along Memorial Drive. If waters rise, do NOT drive through flooded streets. 

State Emergency Operations Center activated a swiftwater rescue team which is on stand by at the St Johnsbury Public Safety Building. Dial 911 in the event of an emergency. 

Roads Update: Please proceed with caution on areas that have sustained damages. We ask that you limit travel to all of these areas to reduce further damage and maintain the road for residents and emergency vehicles. Please check the Town website under 'Announcements' at www.stjvt.com.  Many roads allow only one traffic lane to service traffic in both directions. Please use caution when driving through these areas of town.

Waste Management Update: St Johnsbury Transfer Station at High Street is open for household trash, recycling, metals and hand loaded/unloaded construction debris. Additional waste resources will remain open through this week unless otherwise noted to include:

• Household Waste: Town Officials are directing residents to use EZ Trash services located at 935 Portland Street for household trash and recycling. EZ Trash information can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/E-Z-Trash-LLC-100037978404412/. EZ Trash plans to open a second location in the Elks Lodge parking lot at 118 Western Avenue. This location will be open from 7 am -3 pm August 2- August 10 (excluding Sunday, August 4).
• Hazardous Waste: The temporary hazardous materials drop-off location at 176 Western Avenue will be closing today. We ask residents to hold onto their hazardous waste and store them in a dry and safe location until the next scheduled Household Hazardous Waste Day. 
• Metal Waste: A metal dumpster has been placed at 852 Portland Street for residents to access.
• Electronics: The temporary electronics recycling location on Western Avenue will be closed today. The E-Waste location at the High Street Transfer Station is temporarily out of order. The town will provide further updates on electronics waste shortly. We ask residents to store their electronic waste somewhere dry and safe until an alternative can be developed.
• Flood Debris: Flood debris dumpsters are getting picked up through the day Friday and will not be put back out at this time. If you have remaining flood debris, please sort it to separate:
• wood debris
• appliances and metal
• non-hazardous trash

Place separated flood affected debris curb side and notify the town of the debris location by sending an email to debris@stjvt.com and include estimated amount and your address. 

Water Testing Kits: Water testing kits are available for residents at the St. Johnsbury Wastewater Treatment Plant for pick up at 799 Bay Street M-F between 7 am – 2:30 pm. Please call in advance to verify that kits are available. Lab fees are $25-$30. Tests can be mailed or dropped off at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for currier. Results are provided within 24 hrs. M-TH.

Reporting Damages: Town officials urge businesses and residents to visit Vermont211 (www.vermont211.org ) for information about resources and to report residential and business damages.

For Volunteer Information for clean up efforts, including how you can volunteer, or if you need volunteer assistance, please contact Northeast Kingdom Organizing at https://nekorganizing.org/ or by calling 802-321-3317.

Please get in touch with the Town of St. Johnsbury to report non-emergency road damages by calling (802) 535-9954.