ROCHESTER, Vt. -
Another step forward in Rochester, which was one of the Vermont communities cut off by Tropical Storm Irene.
One of the lasting images of the storm was the washed out cemetery where the remains of 52 people were lost.
Tuesday, back hoes and dump trucks were in high gear, finally beginning to repair and rebuild the banks of the Nasom Brook, which washed away so much last year. The project is being paid for by FEMA and is expected to take about seven weeks. The banks of the Nasom Brook will be built up to prevent more damage to the cemetery in the future.
"I'm ecstatic. Ecstatic," said Sue Flewelling, the overseer of the cemetery. "I mean you think this time a year ago Irene was doing all this destruction and now were reconstructing. It's unbelievable."
Flewelling says 23 of the 52 remains have been recovered. They hope to begin reinterring those in November. A long wait for loved ones, but progress in Rochester.
