Vermont On Cusp Of Being Declared A Disaster Area AGAIN

A home crushed by a fallen tree after the January 10 wind
storm in St. Albans, Vermont. Two destructive January
wind storms prompted Gov. Phil Scott to 
request a disaster declaration for parts of the state. 

 Back on March 5, I wrote that the December floods in Vermont became the fourth federally declared disaster in the Green Mountain State for 2023 if you include a USDA-declared agricultural disaster for a spring freeze.   

We might well be picking up where 2023 left off. Last week, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced he had made a formal request to President Joe Biden to declare a major disaster for the two violent wind storms that hit the Green Mountain State in mid-January. 

The disaster declaration would cover Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Lamoille and Orleans counties. 

If Biden approves the request, FEMA would reimburse affected municipalities and public utilities for 75 percent of eligible costs. This would include power restoration, debris removal, road and public building repairs and staff overtime. 

Federal assessors who looked at the January damage found more than $2.3 million in costs incurred by public entities. You need to have at least $1.2 million in damage before a major disaster declaration is considered. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reviewing Scott's request. If FEMA decides all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, then Biden would declare a disaster.

Since the winds of January, two new expensive storms have hit Vermont. One of them was strong winds on February 28 and 29, and the other was the heavy, wet snow that caused thousands of power outages this week.  Those two more recent storms almost certainly did not cause enough damage to warrant yet another disaster declaration. 

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