Vermont Business Magazine Organizers from Barre Up, a community-led long term recovery effort that mobilized after last year’s flooding, on Thursday morning are coordinating supplies, food, and water while waiting for communication from local and state officials.
“Barre Up has boots on the ground and will be responding to immediate needs of residents as soon as they come in,” said Shawna Trader, a spokesperson for the group.
Trader and others from Barre Up will be distributing disaster preparedness and recovery supplies—water pumps, sump pumps, hoses, and fuel—out of City Hall Park in the coming hours. They are also organizing food and water to be distributed from the Rainbow Bridge Community Center, located at 81 North Main Street.
Barre Up has been supporting residents in recovering from last year’s flood, as well as preparing for an event like this one. “The first thing was to build relationships—without relationships, we have nothing. Relationships then make it possible for organizations like Barre Up to be truly helpful,” explained Trader. Amid deficits in disaster recovery support for the state and municipalities, “community and volunteer-led organizations like Barre Up were and are a necessity.”
Residents in need of support, or volunteers looking to help, can reach Barre Up at 802 277 2635 or [email protected], and follow their Facebook and newsletter for updates.
As historic flooding once again hits Vermont in the now-infamous second week of July, it is clear that last year’s inundation was not an anomaly, but the beginning of a new pattern. Rain events both unnamed and remnants of storms are amplified by a warming climate and can quickly turn life-threatening, particularly for communities along major rivers.
Days-long disasters like flooding illuminate the longer-term precarity Vermonters are experiencing. It is networks of support and solidarity like Barre Up and other community hubs that show up first and foremost for Vermonters hit hardest by everyday and historic crises.
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