Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Addison County gets federal disaster declaration for August flooding

A person in rain boots walks on a road the is split horizontally due to flood waters.
Stacey Peters
/
Courtesy
Flood waters damaged Fassett Hill Road in Hancock on August 3 and 4.

The Biden administration has approved a federal disaster declaration for Addison County tied to severe rain and flooding in early August.

That means towns there can access federal aid to recoup some of the costs of repairing public infrastructure. That's significant because a prior disaster declaration for July's historic flooding did not extend to August.

Ben Rose with Vermont Emergency Management says the total cost of damage in Addison County in August was assessed at just over $1 million, with varying impacts depending on the community.

He says Middlebury, for example, had insurance coverage for its wastewater treatment plant.

"But the town of Hancock really got clobbered," Rose said, "and they would have been looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost without federal assistance had we not gotten this declaration."

Cornwall and New Haven also suffered damage in the storms, Rose said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will now reimburse 75% of costs related to debris removal, road and building repair, and staff overtime, with the state picking up the rest.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.

A graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.
Latest Stories