From July 9-11, 2024, seven counties in Vermont were hit with severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides. One month later, local, state, and federal support is continuing to help Vermonters move forward in their recovery including funds for home repair, emergency lodging, transportation, and other needs.
On August 20, 2024, President Joseph Biden declared a Major Disaster for the state of Vermont making federal funding available to affected individuals in Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Lamoille, Orleans, and Washington counties. Within hours of the declaration, FEMA representatives were interacting with survivors to answer questions and help residents apply for disaster assistance.
Federal funding was also made available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations in Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, and Washington counties for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities.
Since the President’s declaration, families, businesses, and communities continue to rebuild with the help of federal assistance from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). FEMA home inspectors have completed 1,245 inspections, moving applicants through their program eligibility review process. So far, $4,656,478.22 has been approved for Individual Assistance for more than 1,458 households.
Of the total awarded, FEMA has approved $2,701,000.26 to help homeowners and renters with temporary housing and home repairs, including $787,044 to help more than 413 households repair their privately-owned access roads, driveways, or bridges that were damaged by the disaster. FEMA has also provided $1,955,477.96 to help Vermonters replace personal property and with storm-related necessities like childcare, storage, disaster medical and dental expenses, and other disaster-related items, including over $1.7 million in new flexible funding benefits. Flexible funding, introduced under recent reforms to FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, will help survivors pay for essential items like food and baby formula, as well as provide displacement assistance to help with immediate housing needs.
Across the state, SBA has approved over $448,900 in loans to both businesses and homeowners since the start of the declaration.
“We work with our state and local partners to ensure everyone who is eligible for FEMA assistance receives it in the most equitable manner,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Will Roy. “I thank Governor Phil Scott and Vermont Emergency Management for being excellent partners throughout this process and the FEMA employees deployed to Vermont who are selflessly carrying out our agency’s mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters.”
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance specialists have reached out to over 12,333 survivors to provide information about registering and have visited over 419 community locations including faith-based organizations and 914 private sector businesses.
FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) have seen 755 individuals and have taken 360 registrations. DRCs are a great opportunity for individuals to meet with FEMA specialists for in-person one-on-one support. Five DRCs – in Barre, Hinesburg, Island Pond, Lyndonville, and Waterbury – are currently open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.