The full tally of damage to homes and livelihoods from the historic flooding across Vermont two weeks ago will take months, if not years, to determine.
However, preliminary figures released by Vermont Emergency Management on Wednesday suggest that the impact was considerable, and that the total will be at least comparable, and perhaps even greater, than what was suffered during Tropical Storm Irene.
By the end of the day Tuesday, the state had received reports of damage to 4,087 residential units and 839 businesses, according to preliminary information collected by the State Emergency Operations Center and provided to VTDigger.
Among the residences damaged, 754, or 18%, were reported to be no longer habitable. A total of 314 people reported to the state that they needed shelter.
Vermont Emergency Management emphasized that the data consists of self-reports via the state’s 2-1-1 system and has not been verified.
Data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency from July 2013 shows that 3,642 eligible households had registered for individual assistance after Tropical Storm Irene, which touched down in Vermont on August 28, 2011.
These numbers from FEMA may not be directly comparable to the information from 2-1-1 for a variety of reasons.
