A blast from the past

Northfield, and many central Vermont communities, were devastated. The rain killed 85 people, left 9,000 people homeless, washed out 50 railroad bridges, took out power, put a halt on the postal service and accumulated a property loss of $300,000.

That's not today's news, but an 84-year-old event, according to www.vermonthistory.org.  

The autumn of 1927 had been extremely wet, with swollen rivers and saturated grounds. On Nov. 2, torrential rains began. They continued for the next three days, relentless through the nights and tireless through the days.

History does repeat itself.

Cadets at Norwich University, fortunately elevated upon a hilltop, didn't believe how dangerously fast the water was rising. By the third afternoon of constant downpour, "As I left my physics laboratory period, a glance from the campus plateau revealed a large lake of water already lapping above the first story windows of many of the houses in Northfield," said J. Walter Juckett, a 1930 graduate of NU who documented his recollection of the flooding.

"Almost all of the bridges were down, there were no lights or power, and communication with the rest of the world was cut off," wrote Glenn Leet, '30.

The president of the university, Charles A. Plumley, assured that all cadets were safe and quickly put them to work, "[what] the cadet corps did in saving life and property and maintaining law and order is almost beyond comprehension."

Northfield quickly began to run under military rule, according to local paper clippings found in the NU archives. During the initial flooding, cadets were on duty for two hours at a time.

"Our function was to maintain order, keeping people out of dangerous areas and preventing looting," Juckett wrote, "My squad received live ammunition for their Springfield rifles on each tour in which we occupied a sector of the west end of the town."

As the cadets took their duty positions, chaos broke out as town residents wanted to return to their homes to save belongings or get closer to see the raging river, which had risen 15 feet, according to a local source.

"There were barns in the middle of the streets and many houses were badly wrecked," Leet recalled of Northfield a few days later. "The first and second floors of many houses were buried in mud, the streets still rivers, and the whole area was in a state of ruin. There were dead pigs, horses and cows in the streets."

Union Brook Road was hit most severely. The local papers wrote of cadets canoeing to and from homes to rescue those stuck on their second floors. The cadets in the canoes saved 40 people.

"The work of the cadets of Norwich University on the night of the flood is the story of heroism and effort that will emblazon the pages of our history" the Adjutant General said. Throughout the entire rescue venture, NU cadets saved a total of 67 lives.

"As the waters subsided, we became a work detail in that vicinity, shoveling out automobiles, wagons and dead animals from the tremendous piles of silt, clearing out houses and cleaning up the debris," Juckett said.

Outside of each grocery store, cadets patrolled to confirm that all food being distributed had a permit, wrote many papers.

Later in the week, Leet was placed on a detail that was burying dead horses, cows, and pigs. "In the evening I was late for formation. As an explanation was demanded and accepted when I replied, ‘Burying a pig, Sir.'"

On other days, cadets shoveled out the foot-thick layer of mud found on the bottom of every home in the Dog River's path.

After the initial cleanup, the United States Postal Service requested the aid of the cadets. "Mounted details of cadets travelled to Montpelier, Barre, and other nearby communities carrying mail and relief," Juckett said.

As Thanksgiving break approached, Plumley released the cadets a day early for extended travel times. Half of the student body, nearly 150 cadets, hiked to their homes for the holiday to places in southern Vermont, Massachusetts and other surrounding areas, the Associated Press wrote.

Even as the students returned to campus after their holiday break, Northfield was still in a state of recovery. Just when things were beginning to dry up, a relentless full day of rain fell, making the healing process that much more difficult, according to local papers.

Even with the assistance of the NU cadets, "The first train pulled into Northfield February 4, 1928, three months from the flood, after the replacement of the 50 bridges," Juckett recorded.  To this day, the flood of 1927 remains the worst flood in Vermont history.