Vermont’s Congressional delegation and the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency joined Governor Phil Scott today to update the public on flooding before they toured damage across the state.
Commissioner of Public Safety Jennifer Morrison says the state is in much better shape than it was 24 hours earlier.
“That being said, we are still in active response mode and have multiple rescues ongoing. The hardest hit area currently is Lamoille County. Generally speaking, rivers have crested. For now, things are stable in many areas across the state. Further precipitation is forecasted for Thursday and Friday that could bring significant additional rainfall. More flooding is a very real possibility. I'm relieved to say that as of eight o'clock this morning, no fatalities have been reported. We need to remain vigilant in the days to come as many disaster-related deaths occur during cleanup and recovery.”
Governor Scott says he has been inspired by those working on emergency response and those volunteering to help.
“The flooding we've seen is historic. And as waters begin to recede, at least for the time being, we'll be surveying the damage done to infrastructure, homes and businesses. And again, this may not be over. With rain in the forecast and nowhere for it to go, we could see waters rise again. So it's critical Vermonters remain vigilant and plan ahead.”
On Tuesday, President Biden approved an Emergency Declaration authorizing FEMA to mobilize resources to help the state. Administrator Deanne Criswell traveled to Vermont to tour impacted areas.
“We had teams on the ground prior to the declaration so we could be ready to respond immediately. That includes our incident management teams to help with the overall federal coordination as well as our search and rescue teams. And we will continue to send additional resources as we work with the governor and his team to understand what the needs are as we go into the recovery phase, but even to continue to support the ongoing response.”
Criswell advised that cleanup does not have to wait for a FEMA inspection.
“Take pictures, document your damage, gather your important papers, contact your insurance company. Have all of that information available. But you do not need to wait to start the cleanup process. The faster you can get that moved out and the debris moved out of your home, the easier it's going to be for the recovery time.”
Senator Bernie Sanders says the state is experiencing its worst natural disaster since its record-setting flood in 1927.
“What we are looking at now are thousands of homes and businesses which have been damaged, sometimes severely. We're looking at roads and bridges, some of which have been wiped out. What the delegation, Senator (Peter) Welch and Congresswoman (Becca) Balint and I, are working very hard on is to make sure that all of the relevant federal resources are brought into the state as quickly as possible.”
Administrator Criswell, who has held her position for about two years, says severe weather incidents are increasing and points to climate change as a factor.
“I have seen an increase in records being broken, right, records that have stood for decades or even a century. And it's happening over and over again. And so climate change is a factor, I think, in what we are seeing.”
Senator Peter Welch interjected that he had asked the head of NOAA about the role of climate change in Vermont’s current flooding.
“The warmer weather, particularly over the ocean, that then comes across the country means that there's much, much more moisture in the air. So a rainstorm pre-climate change would not have dumped in some places nine inches of rain. So that is very much a climate change related situation. And then of course with our ridge lines it just created a weather dynamic where it lingered longer.”
First-term Congresswoman Becca Balint asked Vermonters not to underestimate the impact trauma from flooding will have on peoples’ lives.
“This is a difficult time for so many, for families, for individuals, for small businesses, and also for farmers. As we were driving down from the airport saw lots of cropland that has been destroyed. So please be gentle with your neighbors.”
Governor Scott announced he would sign an executive order to expedite rebuilding through temporary regulatory relief.
