[D]amage from flooding in Barre and Plainfield last week will not meet the threshold for federal assistance, state officials announced Wednesday.
In order to qualify for a declaration of disaster, the state needs to sustain $1 million or more in damage to public infrastructure. The Division for Emergency Management and Homeland Security said that eligible damage from the rainfall on July 19 and 20 totaled approximately $750,000.
Bram Towbin, who chairs the Plainfield select board, said that Plainfield is looking at road and other infrastructure repairs that could add up to almost a third of the town’s total $900,000 budget.
“It’s a scary thing to face decisions about spending and authorizing work when you don’t know where the money is coming from,” Towbin said in a phone interview Thursday.
Towbin has been in touch with several state officials, and expects that the town will receive assistance at the state level. However, he said, it has only been four years since Plainfield was hit by similar flood damage from storms in May 2011.
With flooding becoming a more regular phenomenon in Vermont, towns need more support, Towbin said.
“There’s a pit in my stomach every time I see rain,” Towbin said.
The frequency of severe flooding in recent years prompted Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon to propose the creation of a storm water fund to the city council earlier this week. The fund could help ensure that the resources to respond to future flooding disasters are available when needed.
The storms last week caused high waters to overflow from Gunner Brook, washing out bridges, roadways, and homes, and leaving mountains of mud behind in downtown Barre. It’s the second time in five years that the same area was severely washed out, Lauzon said by phone Thursday.
Now that the city knows it will not get federal assistance, Lauzon said that he is looking for other ways to help the city and its residents recover.
“I’m disappointed, but I don’t sit still,” Lauzon said.
Lauzon expects that the city will be able to get some assistance for the recovery effort, noting that there will be opportunities to apply for grants. However, a dedicated fund would mitigate the financial uncertainty that the community goes through after natural disasters in the future, he said.
Some 50 structures were significantly affected by the flooding last week, Lauzon said. It is unclear how many residents are still displaced by the damage because many are staying with family or friends, but Lauzon said that fewer than 10 residents are receiving housing assistance at this time.
Lauzon is worried, too, about support being accessible to landlords of multi-family apartment buildings. He said he reached out to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office today to suggest implementing a program, established after the May 2011 flooding, to provide emergency loans to businesses hit by the flood.
A flood relief center will be opening in Barre on Friday, Lauzon said, and will serve as a one-stop-shop to help people who have been affected by the flood get food and shelter vouchers, as well as to tap into other resources.
Mark Bosma, of the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, encourages communities to work with the Agencies of Transportation and Natural Resources on approaching recovery, and to report any damage.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Vermont following on flooding that impacted Chittenden, Franklin and Addison Counties during a storm in early June.
