Gov. Phil Scott on Friday formally appealed President Donald Trump’s rejection of a state application for federal disaster aid stemming from flooding that struck the Northeast Kingdom in July this year.
Scott and his top deputy for flood recovery, Doug Farnham, had previously said the administration was working on an appeal of Trump’s decision, which came in October.
The state is asking the feds for a major disaster declaration, which in this case, would allow towns in Caledonia and Essex counties to unlock Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to cover the costs of repairing critical infrastructure and starting new projects to halt the risk of future flooding, among other possible expenses.
In a press release Friday, the governor’s office said its appeal pointed to how it can be expensive for towns to rebuild their infrastructure in accordance with modern flood resilience guidelines. It also pointed to “the cumulative economic effect on the state and communities that have seen catastrophic floods in each of the last three years.”
Some towns in the rural region experienced flooding in 2025 on the same day they experienced flooding in 2024 and 2023.
“After submitting our disaster declaration request, we learned about more damage that wasn’t included in our initial submission,” Scott added in the release. “This information significantly increases financial burden for repairs which we believe strengthens our appeal.”
Officials said previously that recovery costs were proving to be higher in the Caledonia County town of Sutton — seemingly the worst hit this year — than they previously thought. Sutton suffered more than $1 million in damage, according to Scott’s office.
Friday’s appeal was sent to FEMA, according to the press release, which will review it and then send a recommendation to Trump, who will approve or deny the request.
It’s far from a guarantee that Trump will change his mind after seeing Vermont’s appeal, though. At least two other states — Maryland and Michigan — had appeals for disaster aid stemming from major weather events rejected by the White House this fall.
Trump’s decision to reject Vermont’s initial request for aid for the 2025 flooding came on the same day he also denied aid requests from several other states that are largely Democratic, but he approved requests from several Republican-leaning states.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of which FEMA is a part, contended previously that Trump’s decision was not politically motivated and was instead due to a determination that Vermont could pay for its recovery needs on its own.
An analysis last month by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that without federal assistance after the most significant disasters, many states would see their reserves depleted. Vermont is among the most vulnerable states to such federal funding cuts, according to the analysis.
Trump’s rejection of disaster aid had no recent precedent for the state. Vermont received the major disaster declarations it sought following the flooding in 2023 and 2024, when President Joe Biden was in office.
Its 2025 request is for federal aid for towns; the state did not seek aid for individuals this year, as it did the previous two years.
