Seeking a federal disaster declaration for December’s flooding, Vermont has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assess the damage in six counties.
Vermont Emergency Management said in a press release Friday that it has requested a preliminary damage assessment for Addison, Essex, Orange, Orleans, Rutland and Windsor counties to determine if the state is eligible for public assistance from the federal government. More counties could be added later, according to the release.
Rain and snowmelt on Dec. 18 and 19 caused widespread damage in the state. If President Joe Biden grants a disaster declaration, the federal government will reimburse up to 75% of the cost for storm damage repairs, according to the release. To be eligible, the state must show at least $1.1 million in costs related to the public infrastructure damage and individual counties must show a cost of $4.60 per capita.
“These floods caused significant damage to local roads. Repair work will strain many municipal road budgets just as the winter season begins,” said Vermont Emergency Management Director Eric Forand in the press release. “We want to do all we can to ensure towns receive funding from all assistance programs they are eligible for.”
Ben Rose, recovery and mitigation chief for Vermont Emergency Management, said in an interview Friday that Rutland County experienced the most damage — around $800,000, according to data the department has collected so far. In particular, Rose said the town of Benson was “clobbered.”
Other counties, such as Lamoille and Washington, were not included in this initial request due to not meeting the threshold. Rose did point out, however, that there was no damage counted in Washington County, which could be due to reporting problems at the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Vermont Emergency Management is looking into the issue, Rose said.
According to FEMA, nine counties were declared eligible for assistance following flooding in July: Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor. For the July flooding, the Biden administration issued a major disaster declaration, which opens up a wider range of assistance programs, according to FEMA.
Comparing the July and December flooding events, Rose said the December storm was “two orders of magnitude less severe” than the summer storm.
“Every flood is a little bit unique in terms of where and when the rain hits and what it does,” Rose said.
According to Rose, this is the fourth December in a row where Vermont has experienced a late-month wet storm. “We’ve seen this before and we’re going to see it again,” he said.
Damage assessment for the December floods is expected to begin in early January, Vermont Emergency Management said in the release.
Correction: The headline of an earlier version of this story misstated the nature of the state’s request.
