Montpelier, Vt. —The State today submitted a request for a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine whether the state qualifies for a federal major disaster declaration for flooding and resulting damage on July 30 and July 31, 2024.
The request asks for Public Assistance (PA) assessments in Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties and Individual Assistance (IA) assessments in Caledonia and Essex counties for damaged caused by the storms.
“Many of the communities impacted by the July 30-31 storms were still cleaning up from flooding less than a month ago,” said Governor Phil Scott. “This intense rainstorm devastated homes, businesses, roads, bridges, culverts and other public infrastructure. Vermonters impacted should report damage to 211, so we have the information we need to make our case for additional federal resources.”
A very early assessment by the state has already discovered damage to public infrastructure resulting from the storm exceeding $6 million. To qualify for a major PA disaster declaration, FEMA must verify at least $1.183 million in response and public infrastructure recovery costs. Individual counties must also show damages of $4.60 per capita to qualify.
A PA disaster declaration provides 75 percent reimbursement to communities for responding to and repairing public infrastructure damaged by the storm.
An IA declaration would provide some financial assistance to homeowners and renters for property losses in the storm. To reach the threshold for an IA disaster, residents need to report damage to 211 by dialing 2-1-1 or visiting www.vermont211.org.
Even if you have minimal damage, please report it to 211 to give the state an accurate picture of damages.