When it became clear that the 21 residents of the Riverbend Residential Care Home in Chelsea would need to evacuate to higher ground, Jennifer Doyle, the facility’s owner and operator, had a plan. And she had help.

A team of Riverbend employees, First Branch Ambulance staff, firefighters and Doyle’s family and friends helped transport the facility’s residents to the United Church of Chelsea.

“It went extremely smoothly,” Doyle said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We knew how to do what we needed to do.”

Chelsea was hit particularly hard in the flooding that roiled the Upper Valley on Monday and Tuesday. Road crews and residents spent the ensuing day assessing damage and digging out. Many feared a repeat of Tropical Storm Irene’s devastation in 2011, and were pleasantly surprised as they looked around in Tuesday’s sunshine, even if there was still work to do.

While most state highways were open, Route 107, a key east-west route, remained closed to through traffic for most of Tuesday while state workers removed debris from a landslide. With routes 4 and 107 both closed, travel across the middle of the state was effectively blocked.

In Bethel, which was hit hard by Irene, 11 people, three of them volunteer workers, spent Monday night at an emergency shelter in the school cafeteria, said Denise Guilmette, a volunteer.

“We were all out of there by 6:30 this morning,” Guilmette said Tuesday. “People didn’t sleep well anyway.”

Bethel’s Camp Brook Road, which regularly suffers flood damage and was extensively rebuilt after Irene destroyed it, appeared to weather this storm well. The road was closed intermittently Monday, but was open Tuesday.

Most of the storm’s worst damage was to steep, gravel town roads. In Royalton, crews were beginning to work on Gee Hill and Johnson Hill roads, both of which were closed at locations where running water had gouged the road bed. In Sharon, Fay Brook Road was open only to local traffic.

Barnard was still assessing its damaged roads, Town Administrator Rob Ramrath said Tuesday.

In addition to monitoring the flooding, closing roads, and helping people evacuate, firefighters from Royalton, Bethel and Barnard fought a fire at Precision Motorworks on North Road early Tuesday morning, Royalton Fire Chief Paul Brock said Tuesday.

Bethel and Royalton firefighters also responded to Chelsea to assist with evacuations Monday night, Brock said.

As of Tuesday morning, all roads in Hartford had reopened, though the Quechee Covered Bridge remained closed.

In Woodstock, the private company that provides water to homes in Woodstock Village has completed repairs to a broken pipe, but it will take time to restore water to everyone, Jireh Billings, the company’s president, said Tuesday.

“It’s not 100% because the pressure hasn’t built,” Billings said in a phone interview. “We’re really waiting to see what happens overnight.”

The company, Woodstock Aqueduct, will start testing water Wednesday morning. Until it tests clean, residents should continue to boil their water.

Michael Redmond, executive director of the Upper Valley Haven, said that the White River Junction-based social service organization received only one call from someone seeking assistance due to flooding. He still is concerned about people who have been camping because they do not have anywhere else to stay.

“We remain available for food support and our usual emergency shelter assistance,” Redmond wrote in an email. Those needing assistance can stop by the Haven at 713 Hartford Ave., call 802-295-6500 or email info@uppervalleyhaven.org. People also can call Vermont 211 to be connected with resources in their area.

The Vermont Community Foundation has started a fund to collect donations for people and communities affected statewide by the flooding, according to a news release from the nonprofit organization. People can learn more or make donations at vermontcf.org/vtfloodresponse.

Businesses were assessing the damage and sorting out time frames for repairs.

“We hope to open the restaurant and store in a few weeks,” said Jay Benson, CEO of Simon Pearce, whose operation sits between Quechee Main Street and the Ottauquechee River. But reopening the glass-blowing and the hydroelectric operation that powers it, both of which occupy the lower floor “will be a several-months effort.”

Benson said many people in the community have reached out to Simon Pearce to offer their sympathy and support.

“It’s been wonderful,” Benson said. “We really appreciate all the support and being able to be part of the community.”

Bethel Mills, which was extensively flooded during Irene, moved much of its lumber to higher ground. On Monday afternoon, the White River was licking at the company’s parking lot. On Tuesday, the floodwaters receded, leaving behind a layer of silt on the pavement. Workers mopped inside the company’s hardware store. Efforts to reach company owner Lang Durfee were unsuccessful.

In Woodstock, White Cottage Snack Bar had roughly 3 feet of water from the Ottauquechee River sweep through its lot on Monday.

On Tuesday owner John Hurley stood on what remained of his gravel parking lot while employees cleared water from the restaurant and removed furniture. The waters washed away a significant portion of his lot, creating a wide crevice along a side entrance that fully exposes the building foundation.

Hurley said he has not determined a reopening date. He said his concern is more about repairing the exterior damage.

Nearby, staff and volunteers were busy cleaning up the Woodstock Farmers Market; the store had approximately a foot of water inside it, judging by watermarks on the wall.

In anticipation of the flood, staff spent most of Monday clearing inventory and equipment from their bottom shelves.

“That made all the difference,” co-owner Amelia Rappaport said.

While some goods were spoiled by water damage — and staff still needed to check the condition of equipment — the market lost far less inventory than it did from Hurricane Irene, which had flooded the store with about 3 feet of water.

The market will remain closed this week while staff assess the damage and create a reopening plan. Stocked perishable items like produce will be donated or given away, Rappaport said.

“We hopefully will be able to get the (store reopened) really quickly and allow our staff to get back to (their regular) work,” Rappaport said.

In South Woodstock, the Green Mountain Horse Association had been scheduled to hold a horse show this week, with horses expected to check in Tuesday.

“We were lucky there,” Executive Director Bruce Perry said. “If it had happened on Wednesday we would have had 200 horses here.”

Kedron Brook, which runs through GMHA’s property, “went straight and right through our fields, two of our arenas and one of the barns,” Perry said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The nonprofit organization now faces the prospect of replacing the specialized footing in its riding arenas, among other repairs. The brook washed away around 10 truckloads of it.

“The footing is expensive,” he said. “This is out of pocket. We don’t have flood insurance.”

Waterfront parks in Hartford remained closed Tuesday: Watson Park, Watson Dog Park, Ratcliffe Park and Lyman Point East in White River Junction; Clifford Park in West Hartford; Kilowatt North and South in Wilder; and Quechee Falls Park in Quechee.

Scott Hausler, director of the department, said the parks were closed because of concerns about rising water levels from the storm.

“We want folks to be cautious,” Hausler said during a Tuesday phone interview.

There is no timetable for reopening the parks and officials will continue to evaluate conditions each day.

The department has also canceled all “non-supervised events” including the softball league that meets at Ratcliffe Park. The department’s summer concert series and tai chi classes that are held at the bandstand will continue.

“Clifford Park was completely underwater, but it has receded,” Hausler said, adding that silt from the White River remains on the fields. He described it as “nothing close to what it was like in Irene.”

The New Hampshire side of the Upper Valley was largely spared from flooding, though roads were washed out in some towns. Lebanon opened an emergency shelter at Lebanon High School on Monday night, but closed it after one only person showed up and then opted to seek shelter elsewhere, said Jeffrey Libbey, assistant chief at the Lebanon Fire Department. Officials responded to a limited number of calls, including a few downed trees, but it was relatively quiet. With more rain in the forecast, they’re remaining vigilant.

“We’re obviously still looking at the ground saturation which is a big part of this,” Libbey said. As the ground becomes wetter, soil can loosen, which could lead to trees coming down. “At this point the only thing we’re doing is going out and taking a look at a lot of the gravel roads to make sure that they’re still in good shape.”

Officials with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Dam Bureau have been monitoring the Mascoma Lake Dam, which sits on the Lebanon end of the lake and empties into the Mascoma River. Lake levels have risen steadily since Sunday were expected to stop rising — or crest — around midnight Wednesday.

“It’s up over a foot and a half,” said Dan Mattaini, chief of operations at the dam bureau. “It’s very high.”

The higher water levels can lead to flooding around the rim of the lake and docks can go underwater, Mattaini said, adding that people should avoid going near the dam.

Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, flooding from the Mascoma River led Lebanon officials to close Spencer Street, according to a notice sent out by the city. Water levels were expected to rise another 3 inches by midnight.

Emergency management officials advise residents to put together an evacuation plan. Part of that plan is a “bug out kit” of 48 to 72 hours worth of supplies, including medication and pet food.

Doyle, of Riverbend in Chelsea, said having a plan in place made it possible to move patients so quickly.

“I can’t recommend that enough,” she said.

Family and friends operated pumps in the care home’s basement to keep it from flooding, she said. She planned to stay at the church overnight with the patients, then assess whether they could be moved back home. Her main concern is that the flooding might not be over.

“The river’s still very high,” she said.

Valley News staff writers Patrick Adrian, Alex Hanson and Liz Sauchelli contributed to this report.