Vermont Governor Phil Scott and administration officials provided an update Friday on what they say is significant flood damage from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl this week.
Governor Scott, a Republican, said as he visited affected towns on Thursday to view flood damage, he saw community members already coming together to begin cleaning up.
“We’re continuing our work to manage the response, coordinating with town officials and local emergency management directors to assess damage and provide assistance when necessary. This work is ongoing and with local officials still very much in response mode, focused on life and safety and urgent needs, it will take a few days before we have a more complete understanding of the damage and what is needed for recovery and what we can expect in federal support.”
Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison reported that most rescue operations have wrapped up. Out-of-state swift water teams have been released and in-state teams are back in their communities.
“We will continue to have teams on standby until all rivers are below flood stage. To date our teams rescued approximately 120 people, 15 animals and have assisted with dozens of evacuations. This does not include the many rescues and assists carried out by local first responders. We are aware of two deaths that appear to be weather related. Wednesday night 33-year-old Dylan Kempton of Peacham died and yesterday 73-year-old John Rice of Concord died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both of these men. Regarding weather and any potential for future flooding, there is some river flooding that continued into this morning. Most rivers are receding and no new flooding is expected.”
Agency of Transportation Commissioner Joe Flynn said closures of state roads have diminished from 54 to 18. He emphasized that does not include widespread damage to local and private roads.
“The Agency of Transportation will be releasing $29.5 million in town highway aid payments by early August. The first $14 million is working its way out the door the first part of next week. This is formula money for every town in Vermont which is part of our budget. But this is a six-month slug of money that we’re releasing immediately to help towns.”
Flynn noted some state roads remain closed and there were a number of freight and passenger rail disruptions including tracks affecting Amtrak’s Ethan Allen and Vermonter trains.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine reminded Vermonters of basic guidance for cleanup and recovery including testing home water systems in flooded areas and wearing protective masks and gear while cleaning flood damaged areas. He emphasized that people should not swim or enter any water after a flooding event due to potential contamination and debris and strong undercurrents that can linger for several days.
“These weather events continue to challenge our collective resilience, especially for those of us who worked so hard to rebuild and were directly impacted yet again. Unfortunately, we do know that climate change will continue to make severe weather a threat to our world. So it’s important to understand how it harms our health and what we can do in the short and long term to help protect against these impacts.”
Governor Scott says he plans to request a federal disaster declaration when there is more information on the scope of the flood damage.
