FEMA officials arrive in Vermont to assess damage from Beryl

Just over a week after the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl caused flooding across central and northern Vermont, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are on the ground assessing damage in the state, Gov. Phil Scott said Friday.

FEMA officials arrived in Vermont Thursday and are working to fulfill the state’s request for a preliminary damage assessment. That will help determine whether the state is eligible for a major disaster declaration — and the federal funding that could follow.

“If they determine we meet the threshold for major disaster declaration, we’ll make a formal request to the president,” Gov. Phil Scott said at a Friday press briefing in Berlin. “Which will bring significant federal resources to the state.”

Federal officials are currently in eight counties — Addison, Chittenden, Essex, Orleans, Washington, Caledonia, Lamoille and Orange — examining damage to public infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and water treatment plants.

If damage to those facilities is extensive enough, Vermont could be eligible for public assistance, meaning funding for infrastructure repairs and storm response costs. Federal officials must confirm that public infrastructure in the state has incurred $1.183 million in such costs to be eligible for public assistance.

The state estimates that the storm caused at least $15 million in damage to public infrastructure.

Next week, FEMA will begin to assess whether individual counties have enough damage to qualify for individual assistance from the federal government, according to Scott. To be eligible, a county must show that the storm has caused $4.60 of damage per capita.

Scott said that it should become clear whether the state has reached that threshold next week.

Vermont is also seeking a separate disaster declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Scott announced Friday, a move that could unlock federal financial assistance to help Vermonters address damages to their farms.

So far, Vermont 211 , the state’s flood damage hotline, has received 1,921 reports of damage to private residences and 207 reports of damage to businesses, Scott said Friday. That’s more than the state received in a similar time frame after flooding last year, officials said — an apparent sign not necessarily of more extensive damage, but rather residents’ familiarity and comfort with the 211 system, they speculated.

The state has also received reports of roughly 150 homes that have been significantly damaged or destroyed, according to Eric Forand, Vermont’s emergency management director.

As Vermont continues to take the measure of the damage from the flooding, state officials urged residents with even minor property damage to report it to Vermont 211. The state also plans to begin collecting flood debris from towns at the end of the month, and officials urged residents to move flood-related debris to the right-of-way for pickup.

And amid reports of landslides in the aftermath of the flooding, Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore said that residents could report any concerns about slides on an Agency of Natural Resources’ website .

Red Cross announces emergency distribution sites

Separately, the American Red Cross announced that it is hosting emergency disaster supply distribution sites across the state this weekend in communities hardest hit by the flooding.

A distribution center will be open at the Barre Auditorium between 10 a.m. and noon and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. until Monday, July 22, according to the Red Cross. Other stations will fluctuate between affected towns and regions.

On Saturday morning, the organization plans to be based at the St. Johnsbury School between 10 a.m. and noon and at the Vermont State University-Lyndon Campus in Lyndonville between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

On Sunday morning, in addition to the Barre Auditorium, the Red Cross plans to distribute supplies at the Middlesex Town Hall between 10 a.m. and noon, and at the Richmond Town Hall between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

On Monday morning, the site is expected to return to the Vermont State University-Lyndon Campus in the morning, 10 a.m. to noon and will be in Plainfield across from the Plainfield Health Center between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Kristen Fountain contributed reporting.

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