BERLIN, Vt. (WCAX) – Two weeks on and state officials are still trying to assess the total damage of the recent flooding in Vermont.
So far, 211 has gotten more than 2,200 reports of home damage and almost 250 damaged businesses. Up to 150 homes have also been self-reported as uninhabitable.
But state leaders it’s up to FEMA to make the final determination on a home’s condition, and help for homeowners will be available if Vermont reaches the damage threshold for individual assistance.
“Self-reports of uninhabitable or of severe damage is an undefined term; it’s whatever someone tells 211 the definition of their house is, so there is no defined category,” Vt. Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said.
State officials have been urging Vermonters to report all flood damage to 211.
Gov. Phil Scott says there’s less national attention on Vermont after this flood, so the FEMA process is operating at its normal pace. But he says he expects the feds to make a decision on an emergency declaration by this weekend. Last, week, the governor officially made a request for federal disaster relief funding for the July 10 storm. It asks for both public and individual assistance from FEMA and covers Addison, Orleans, Washington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange and Essex Counties.
The governor on Friday also called on the USDA to assist farmers. Vermont’s congressional delegation on Tuesday backed up that request with a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.