Worst Severe Storm Outbreak Of Summer Trashed Vermont Saturday

Hours after a line of deadly and destructive
thunderstorms tore though New York, Vermont and
New Hampshire, this isolated,. pretty storm
formed at sunset over northern New York.
This is a view from St. Albans, Vermont.  

OK, those thunderstorms Saturday afternoon were bad. Very bad.

I'm trying to get the details, but the storms might have caused two deaths across the state.

A death was reported amid falling trees in Hubbardton, and another person died of cardiac arrest at an event called Raftapalooza in Colchester.  

Raftapalooza, in which boaters and rafters gather for a day of partying in Malletts Bay, turned into chaos as rafts overturned, boats collided and tents blew away when the severe storm hit, says the Burlington Free Press.

Raftapalooza participants were warned of the approaching storm and were trying to get off the lake, with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and local police. But there were just so many people and so much chaos with the storm, it was hard.

A 56 year old man was in cardiac arrest by 3:30 p.m. during the storms. It's unclear what happened to him during the storm.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other rescue outfits were swamped by many, many reports of boaters in distress on Lake Champlain as the storms packing wind gusts of at least 60 mph hit. I don't know why all those boaters were out there, as we knew there was a chance of severe storms hours before they actually hit.

Green Mountain Power said the storms cut electricity to more than 20,000 Vermont homes and businesses and 10,000 of them still had no electricity Sunday morning.

Motorists along Interstate 89 in central and eastern Vermont reported miles and miles of broken or uprooted trees along the sides of the major highway.

Trees and power lines came down in dozens and dozens of towns in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

The Valley News reported a tree fell through the roof of a South Royalton, Vermont home and pierced the ceiiing in a room where a 26 year old man was trying to sleep. Luckily, it turns out the guy didn't get hurt, but he got a face full of insulation and quite a scare.

Cleanup shouldn't be a problem weatherwise today as it will be warm, sunny, and storm-free.

There's a chance of more storms - some possible strong, here we go again - Monday afternoon.