Editor’s note: This op-ed is by William Doyle, who has represented Washington County in the Vermont Senate as a Republican since 1969 and is currently Senate minority leader.
Recently, President Obama declared Vermont, ravaged by Hurricane Irene, a disaster area that paved the way for federal funds. The flood of 2011 invites comparison to the flood of 1927.
In 1927, heavy rains “converted a warm autumn into a watery hell” where 80 Vermonters died. Vermont’s Lt. Gov. Hollister Jackson, of Barre, drowned on the way home. Vermont ’s damage to railroad tracks “equaled the mileage from Boston to Chicago.”
President Coolidge signed federal flood legislation. In reflecting on the flood, he wrote: “I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all, because of her indomitable people.” While federal funds helped Vermont, Coolidge’s words will endure.
It was the flood of 1927, and not the Depression, however, that first led Vermont through a period of great change. The flood caused massive damage around the state, wiping out highways and railroads and sweeping buildings off their foundations. Hoover , then secretary of commerce, came to the state to view the damage, remarking he had seen “Vermont at her worst, but Vermonters at their best.” Much of Vermont was inaccessible except for air travel. Barnstorming pilots whose aid delivered medical supplies to remote parts of Vermont were the real heroes of the flood.
Before the flood, individual towns were largely responsible for the repair of bridges and roads, but the flood damage was so massive that they alone could not finance all the repairs. At a special session in November 1927, the General Assembly voted an $8.5-million bond issue. The state assumed further responsibility for highway maintenance, and it was symptomatic of the need to shift power from the local to the state level. The repair program also brought Vermont into the automobile age. Some damaged railroads were never restored, and most of the public funds went to new highways. Cars and trucks increasingly replaced trains and horses.
The flood also caused changes in the state’s dependence on the federal government. Contrary to popular belief, Vermont did accept federal money to help it rebuild after the flood. Vermont’s congressional delegation asked for and received more than $2.5 million to repair highways and bridges within Vermont.
The flood played a role in breaking the “single-term” tradition. In 1928, Gov. John E. Weeks won re-election and became the first governor to serve two terms since the Vermont Constitution was amended in 1870 to provide for a two-year term. Weeks stressed that re-election was necessary to have continuity in the flood recovery program.
State government grew to meet the new demands placed upon it by the disaster, and it needed more money. In 1931, the Legislature passed the state’s first income tax and established a system of state highways.
The state realized a need for a flood control program. As a result, Vermont accepted federal dollars to build dams at East Barre, Middlesex and Waterbury. The dams were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Army Corps of Engineers.
