Editor's note: Residents in Caledonia and Orange counties became eligible for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday, July 21.
Flood-ravaged residents in counties that aren鈥檛 part of are waiting anxiously to find out when, or if, federal assistance will be available to help them rebuild their lives.
Biden approved Gov. Phil Scott鈥檚 request for a major disaster declaration in Vermont on Friday, and the decision will deliver millions of dollars in federal assistance to some families whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the flood.
The declaration only includes six counties so far, however. And that鈥檚 left homeowners like Doug and Cheri Safford, in Orleans County, balancing the stress of clean up with the uncertainty of their financial future.
鈥淯ntil this county is declared, we鈥檙e spinning our wheels,鈥� Cheri Safford said Monday.
The Saffords have lived on Route 16 in the village of Glover for more than 30 years. Their brick home, constructed in 1830, sits on a little yard that abuts the Barton River 鈥� the same river that overtook their home after 7 inches of rain fell in parts of Orleans County last week.
Doug Safford recalled the scene in the basement as the waters crested on Monday night.
鈥淭he freezer was floating. They were up right along by the window here,鈥� he said.
Their retail business, called the Red Sky Trading Post, is in a red barn next door. Cheri Safford said 3 feet of water destroyed inventory and equipment in there, too.
The Saffords haven鈥檛 begun to tally the dollar amount of the loss they鈥檝e suffered. But you don鈥檛 need to be an insurance adjustor to appreciate the scope of the damage here.
When Cheri Safford went to the FEMA website to apply for individual assistance, she got an unhappy surprise.
鈥淚 got down to the drop down for the counties, and I clicked Orleans 鈥� no designation for your area,鈥� she said.
No designation because only Chittenden, Lamoille, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor counties have been included in Biden鈥檚 declaration. The Saffords, like so many other families in Orleans County, have no idea yet whether the federal government will help them rebuild.
FEMA officials said additional counties 鈥渕ay鈥� be added at a later date. Officials at the Vermont Emergency Operations Center said in a release that more counties 鈥渨ill be added to the declaration.鈥� But it鈥檚 unclear when that鈥檒l happen, or even what FEMA needs to find in places like Orleans in order to get added to the list.
鈥淚 know that FEMA鈥檚 busy,鈥� Cheri Safford said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 understand why we鈥檙e waiting so long to be declared. I just don鈥檛 understand it. The (Northeast) Kingdom鈥檚 tough as it is. And it鈥檚 a beautiful place. But people are going to be picking up the pieces themselves.鈥�
Over in Caledonia County, Bryan Palilonis was chopping onions in the kitchen of his taco restaurant in Hardwick Monday. He had a few inches of water on the floor here last Monday, but he and some family members and volunteers stripped and replaced the floor, and they鈥檙e already back in business.
鈥淵eah the health inspector came on Friday 鈥� and the propane guys came right away Wednesday,鈥� he said.
Palilonis鈥� home a couple of miles away, where he lives with his partner and their 4 year old, is a different story.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty bleak,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he house got swallowed by the brook.鈥�
The Alder Brook reached a height of 3 feet on the first floor. Palilonis is pretty sure the structure is a total loss.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got a foot and a half of silt and sediment. The floor joist is broke and the foundation 鈥� it was on post and beam,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y dad and I built it ourselves. It was an old camp that was pretty derelict and we just little by little changed it into our beautiful cabin.鈥�
As if being displaced by a catastrophic flood wasn鈥檛 enough to deal with, Caledonia County hasn鈥檛 made the cut yet for Biden鈥檚 disaster declaration. Palilonis is concerned total flood-related damages in the county won鈥檛 be sufficient to clear the disaster declaration threshold.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just on this little speck of Caledonia where it got just devastated and the rest of the county鈥檚 fine,鈥� he said.
Palilonis said the system feels irrational 鈥� just because someone drew a political boundary 200 or so years ago, the lives of flood victims in counties that are in the declaration, and those that aren鈥檛, are potentially on two very different trajectories.
鈥淚t鈥檇 be pretty insane if they don鈥檛 have, you know, the human love for what happened to us,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 mean, okay, great 鈥� the rest of the county doesn鈥檛 need it. But what about us Hardwick folks?鈥�
The low-lying homes on Meadow Street in Williamstown, which is in Orange County, suffered devastating damage.
Over the hum of fans and dehumidifiers whirring in her basement, Lori Trottier relived the nightmare that unfolded last week.
She and her husband and two kids had three sump pumps and three shop vacs going as the water rose in their basement.
鈥淎nd we were just trying to keep up with it,鈥� Trottier said. 鈥淎nd finally, I think it was around 7:30, my son just grabbed me around the shoulders and said, 鈥楳om, we can鈥檛 keep up with it. We got to go. It鈥檚 getting more than we can do.鈥� And within just a few minutes it started coming up the stairs.鈥�
The water鈥檚 destroyed all the utilities in the basement. With some help from a local contractor, they鈥檝e already stripped the drywall.
Getting the place back to normal won鈥檛 be cheap. And Trottier said individual assistance from FEMA would be huge.
鈥淢y husband just retired and we were planning on going somewhere with our camper,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut now it鈥檚 like cleaning all this up. Yeah, it鈥檚 just overwhelming. It鈥檚 overwhelming.鈥�
State and federal officials say flood victims in counties that haven鈥檛 been added to the declaration yet should call 2-1-1 to report damage, so that FEMA can send inspectors to assess the damage there.
Phil Brooks, the emergency management coordinator for the town of Glover, spent his Monday walking through the hardest-hit parts of town with a delegation of officials from FEMA and the Small Business Administration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important today for me to take them out and show them the damage that the town suffered so that we can get it duly noted and add to the aggregate amount of damage in the county to rise to the level of an individual declaration,鈥� Brooks said.
Brooks, a former career law enforcement officer, said what happened in Glover is unprecedented. He said he could hear boulders thundering down the river when waters peaked.
鈥淚 mean you could hear stuff that I鈥檝e never heard in 54 years of living here that I鈥檝e never heard,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen the river rise and drop as fast as it did last Monday.鈥�
Brooks said homes and businesses have been damaged and destroyed, and he said financial assistance from the federal government will be critical to the recovery.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need to some help. We need some help,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt about it.鈥�
In the village of Orleans in the town of Barton, local volunteers have established a supplies-distribution hub at the Orleans Federated Church.
They plan to open up as a stop-and-grab spot for flood survivors in the coming days. Right now, they鈥檙e using contributions to buy supplies and deliver them directly to local homes, according to El Stone, who helped organize the effort.
鈥淗ow we鈥檙e functioning right now is people are saying, 鈥楬ey, I need this.鈥� And then we鈥檙e going out and giving it to them,鈥� Stone said.
Stone said volunteers from Northeast Kingdom Organizing have been going door-to-door to assess the scope of the damage and assess the need. She said FEMA鈥檚 failure to include Orleans County in the disaster declaration would devastate people who are already living on the economic margins.
鈥淚 mean, I think it would be catastrophic for a lot of families,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing that the people who are already the most affected by poverty and economic disparity are the ones who got hit the hardest, because they live in flood areas and those are the homes that they could buy.鈥�
Have questions, comments or tips? .
Flood recovery resources
- For state road closure information, visit or follow on X. (For local road closures, use the Waze app or monitor town communications, such as a website or Facebook page.)
- You can sign up for alerts from the state at .
- The latest forecasts and water levels for specific rivers are provided by the .
- Find power outage information at .
- To find more resources and services, and to report flood damage, call Vermont 2-1-1 or visit .
- For a list of state resources and guidance about flooding, visit . The guidance includes returning home after a flood, cleaning up, and dealing with mold.
- Find flood recovery information in multiple languages at .
- To request cleanup help from volunteers and groups, call the Crisis Cleanup hotline at 802-242-2054.
- For mental health support, call 9-8-8 or call or text the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.
- To register through the state to volunteer, visit .
- If flood waters reached your , order a drinking water test kit through .
- Find flood-prone areas near you with the .
