Gov. Phil Scott says he expects to hear soon whether the state will qualify for federal aid to help pay for storm damage from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. The storm hit parts of central and northern Vermont with catastrophic flooding in early July, causing an estimated $15 million in damage to roads and public infrastructure.
“We did reach out to the White House to see if there’s anything we should know,” Scott said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “They reported back that we should hear something very soon. I think that’s good news.”
A major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency would allow the federal government to reimburse three-quarters of state and local government expenses from storm recovery, and could unlock cash assistance for homeowners and renters. Although for some Vermonters impacted by floods last year, individual assistance has been shockingly difficult to come by.
The state is still in the process of requesting assistance for flood damage in Stowe at the end of June, after rains overwhelmed culverts and washed out roads. State officials said they received an extension from FEMA to collect more data to see if the town reached a certain threshold of damage.
State workers are also still analyzing data collected by FEMA from the damage wrought by a storm in the Northeast Kingdom counties of Caledonia, Essex and Orleans in the last two days of July. Shortly after the storm, officials had tallied over $6 million in damage to public infrastructure.
The governor had not yet submitted a major disaster declaration request to the president for that storm as of Wednesday afternoon.
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