Tropical Storm Irene roared into Vermont in the early morning
hours of Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011 while many were still asleep. By morning,
it was pouring up to 10 inches of rain onto the spine of the tiny
state’s Green Mountains. Twelve hours later Irene was gone, but in many
towns the destruction was nearly total - and many small communities were
completely cut off from the outside world. What happened next was not
what you might think. Not only did the people in these tiny outposts and
isolated communities work together to rescue the stranded and begin
rebuilding roads, salvaging what they could from debris, but they
rediscovered collective bonds of strength and resiliency that lie within
all of us.