Every January the Opera Theatre of Weston stages a full-scale opera for school groups and families. That didn't happen in 2012 because of Tropical Storm Irene. But now the company is back with an opera about an even bigger flood.

Flood-weary voters in a small Lamoille County community have given their village leaders permission to continue pursuing a land deal that supporters say would both preserve a floodplain and prevent future development there.

Towns and state government try to look after essential services amid the flood damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.

These were some of the voices in the news this week.

The Lamoille River flooded in the early hours of April 27, inundating the town of Johnson. The wastewater treatment plant bore the brunt of the damage, and town employees had to do the risky and filthy work of keeping the wastewater plant online. The plant, and the town generally, are still working to recover from the flood.

With steady, heavy rain, rivers across Vermont are rising and many roads have been forced to close.