Yet Another Disaster Declaration In Vermont; This Time For Late June Storms

A storm that carried a tornado warning dumps torrential 
rain on South Hinesburg, Vermont on June 23. That and
other storms that day caused flash flooding in central
Vermont, prompting news Friday of yet another
disaster declaration in the Green Mountain State

 It's getting really hard to keep up with all the disasters and disaster declarations in Vermont since last year. Now we have yet another one. 

Remember that Sunday in June when your radio and television crackled with tornado watches and warnings and flash flood warnings?

That day caused enough damage to warrant yet another federal disaster declaration in parts of Vermont. 

This latest disaster focuses pretty exclusively on Lamoille County and parts of the Northeast Kingdom. They were hit hard with flash flooding on June 23 as two waves of intense downpours swept through that region with supercell thunderstorms. Serious flash flooding caused a lot of damage in Stowe, Walden and in parts of the Worcester Range. 

This June storm caused at least $1 million in damage in just the town of Stowe.

Gov. Phil Scott had asked the federal government to include Caledonia County in the June 22-24 declaration, but the feds responded by only declaring Lamoille County.  

The declaration frees up federal money to reimburse municipalities for 75 percent of funds already spent on debris removal, road and public building repair and staff overtime, Scott's office reported in a Friday press release.

The tornado watches and warnings made the initial headlines with that June storm, but no tornadoes are known to have touched down in Vermont, and wind damage was spotty. The real damage on June 23 came from the flooding. 

Though Caledonia County was left out of this declaration, it is under what will probably become two other disaster declarations from this summer. The first is for disaster declaration prompted by the big July 10-11 flash flood associated with the remnants of Hurricane Beryl.

A federal disaster declaration has not come yet for the intense downpours and extreme flash flooding around St. Johnsbury, Lyndonville, Burke and other Northeast Kingdom communities on July 30, but I imagine that declaration is on its way. 

As I wrote earlier this month, I find it ironic  that Lamoille County was cited in a 2021 ProPublica/New York Times study as being perhaps the best refuge in the nation from the effects of climate change. 

Lamoille County has now been designated a federal disaster area for six storms since December, 2022. So much for being a refuge. 

Vermont as a whole has now had eight major federal major disaster declarations since 2021 with six of those happening since July, 2023.

Those disaster include:

Epic flooding across Vermont on July 9-11, 2023

Severe flash floods in Addison County on August 3-5, 2023

Widespread flooding on December 18-19, 2023

Severe windstorms on January 9-13, 2024

The above mentioned flash flooding and storms on June 22-24, 2024

Severe floods on July 9-11, 2024

And, as mentioned, the July 30, 2024 flood in the Northeast Kingdom will probably get a declaration. 

Vermont, blessedly, hasn't had any extreme weather of note since the strong, damaging winds we saw on August 9 from former Hurricane Debby.   (I kind of doubt that one was bad enough to warrant yet ANOTHER disaster declaration but who knows?)

We've gone over month with no problems and there's nothing in the forecast. Such calm weather seems so strangely odd in our stormy, sometimes dangerous climate change world.