Three counties receive disaster declarations requested by Governor Shumlin

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Chittenden, Essex, and Lamoille counties for public infrastructure damage suffered because of severe storms from May 22-26 of this year.
The declaration allows communities in those counties to receive at least 75% federal reimbursement for repairs to public roads, bridges, and other infrastructure that was damaged during the storm.
‘This is helpful news for the state, and for the towns which suffered such serious losses during these storms,’Gov. Peter Shumlin said. ‘This assistance from our federal government will help these Vermont communities repair the damage to roads, bridges and other public infrastructure that occurred.’
A preliminary damage assessment conducted shortly after the storms identified a minimum of $1.5 million in damages in the three counties, although the actual number is higher since only $1 million in damages must be shown to qualify the state for this disaster declaration. Several local roads in the three counties were completely washed out or made impassable as a result of the deluge over Memorial Day weekend.
Repairs to damaged areas are on-going and communities will be reimbursed for eligible work. Communities can also seek repayment for equipment rentals, and for fuel for that equipment, the cost of contractor assistance, municipal employee overtime tied directly to storm response and restoration, as well as other expenses.
The Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will hold kickoff meetings in the three counties to help communities understand and start the application process. The dates and locations of those meetings will be announced when they are finalized.