Flood Resources - Windsor County
Letter to constituents| 7/16/23
Windsor County comes together in response to the Flood
Dear Constituents,
Since Sunday night the entire state of Vermont has been responding to the flooding that has damaged homes, businesses, and roadways, and taken the life of one Vermonter in Barre. With national news coverage, you have probably received an outpouring of support from friends and family across the country reaching out to ensure you are safe.
If you are safe, and your home, business, or local community has been unaffected, this e-newsletter will have resources on how to volunteer and/or support your fellow Vermonters who have been impacted by this historic event. If you are in the difficult situation of dealing with the aftermath of the flooding, this email also contains information with vital resources to assist you in the clean-up and recovery, as well as those who are in need of emotional support.
We want to thank the town and state staff who have been tirelessly managing this crisis, our Emergency Responders like our public safety officers and firefighters, Departments of Public Work staff including water and road crews, and the Selectboards and town officials who have stepped up. The towns of Cavendish, Chester, Ludlow, and Weston have been dealt an extremely difficult blow along with Plymouth and Woodstock. While towns like Bethel, Hartford, and Springfield are managing at this point, localized flooding and road closures are still issues.
We also want to thank the administration and the team within Governor Phil Scott’s operation who have deployed many state-level resources in response.
Your Senate delegation is on alert and is here if you need help navigating the crisis. As policymakers, we are also considering what legislative response may be needed, particularly the role of climate change in increasing the frequency and devastation of natural disasters.
Sincerely,
Senator Dick McCormack (rmccormack@leg.state.vt.us)
Senator Alison Clarkson (aclarkson@leg.state.vt.us)
Senator Becca White (rwhite@leg.state.vt.us)
Resources for immediate needs 7/16/2023
For Help Now:
Emergencies: Please dial 9-1-1
Immediate Needs: Call 2-1-1
Emergency Shelter: Call 2-1-1 or you can Locate options by zip code by visiting the www.redcross.org/local/menh-vt/get-help.html or by texting SHELTER and your zip code (for example, “SHELTER 01234”) to 4FEMA (43362). For Spanish text REFUGIO and your zip code. Standard text message rates apply. You can also download the FEMA Mobile App to find open shelters.
General Assistance Housing Program (Hotel or Motel) for Catastrophic Need: Call 1-800-775-0506
Mental Health Supports: Call 988
Road Closures: visit www.newengland511.org
Support for disabled individuals: Visit disabilities, or access and functional needs
• Support for farmers: connect with technical, legal or financial assistance or to a counselor or trained peer; https://www.farmfirst.org/
FEMA Individual Assistance support contact: Sam Harvey, 202-765-9101 or Samuel.Harvey@fema.dhs.gov
Senator White with Red Cross regional staff including Executive Site Director Caroline King in front of clean up boxes in Ludlow.
Update on the Multi-Agency Resource Center & Red Cross site in Ludlow
by Senator Dick McCormack
Yesterday, Senator White and I toured the county. (Out of the country, Senator Clarkson is spending her vacation doing her due diligence electronically.) Besides being destructive, disruptive, dangerous, and expensive, flood disasters are capricious; devastation here, business as usual there. We tend to think of flooding as areas under water, Downtown Montpelier, for example. But in a hilly terrain like ours, flooding is more likely to involve fluvial erosion, the scouring of an area by the weight and speed of large volumes of water. This not only submerges, but destroys vehicles, buildings, and whole sections of road. And around the next bend, nothing appears to have happened.
The various branches of federal, state, and town government and the various local and broad-based volunteer organizations have been quick to respond. The Big Yellow Machines are out on the roads, and luckier Vermonters are mucking out their unlucky neighbors. The lists provided in this newsletter should help people in need to find help and, as importantly, help people who want to help, including well-intentioned politicians, to go to the need without getting in the way. As I write, we’re heading into more rain with no guarantee of how severe the effects will be. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
The scientific debate on Global Warming ended many decades ago. The political debate unfortunately continues. But the consequences of Global Warming can no longer be discussed in the future tense. We’re in the Future. So stop being polite to science deniers!
The state of Vermont will be opening Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs) in Barre and Ludlow to help survivors of this week’s floods navigate the recovery process. These centers are open to all residents from throughout the region, and will be open from 9-5 daily Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, July 15-17. These are the first of several sites the state will operate in the coming days in additional areas of the state.
MARCs serve as a single location where public and private organizations come together to provide assistance to those affected by the disaster. Several state and non-profit agencies involved in individual disaster recovery will be present to answer questions and guide visitors to appropriate services.
MARCs provide:
Meals and water from the RedCross
Cleaning kits
Assistance finding recovery resources
Mental health services
Basic medical services
Ludlow - Community Center, 37 Main St Ludlow
Showing up for neighbors & volunteering
by Sen. Becca White
There has been a lot of damage and heartbreak over the past few days, but the resolve of our fellow Vermonters to help each other has been overwhelming. So many first responders, emergency management officials, and swift water rescue teams from Vermont and other states played such a crucial role in evacuating folks and keeping them safe.
After the 1927 floods that swept our state, President Calvin Coolidge described Vermonters of the time as “pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others,” as they selflessly helped clean up their communities and aided neighbors in repairing their homes and businesses. Now, as the floodwaters recede, so many Vermonters are already asking how they can be of service to their friends and neighbors during the recovery process of this historic flood. Here are some ways you can get involved:
The State Government is taking down volunteers who can mobilize for cleanup and recovery after the last rain bands end and the floodwaters fully recede. Volunteers can register at: https://www.vermont.gov/volunteer.
NOTE: I signed up on this site and it was a little cumbersome, make sure you enter all the relevant information. If you don’t get alerted try reviewing the VT Flood Mutual Aid Facebook page that was set up.
The Vermont Community Foundation has set up a Flood Response Recovery Fund to help coordinate and distribute support to hard-hit communities. Donations to the fund can be made here:https://www.classy.org/give/501142/#!/donation/checkout. Additionally, the foundation recommended other organizations to donate to such as the BROC Community Action; Capstone Community Action; Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity; Northeast Kingdom Community Action; and Southeastern Vermont Community Action.
A group of volunteers have created a crowdsourced resource guide with information ranging from news updates to shelters to how to access FEMA assistance. This document also contains a list of local volunteer sign-up forms and mutual aid organizations in your area. You can both read and help expand this resource list here: https://bit.ly/VTflood23.
Local to Bethel? For the volunteer and needs sign-up form for Bethel Strong Mutual Aid click here: https://bethelvtstrong.org/get-give-help
Lastly, as more rain is forecasted in the coming days, the Vermont Language Justice Project has published videos translating flood and heavy rainfall safety guidance so this important information can get out to as many people as possible. These videos can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0uaGz81U--7XiSGftCBdoSMS29hPv3il.
Thank you so much again for your support of your fellow Vermonters during this difficult time, and please continue to stay safe during the coming days. We will all get through this together.
All the best,
Becca
P.S. Dylan and I spent time volunteering in Cavendish alongside a coordinated clean-up effort and we highly recommend if you have muck boots, watergaters, and N95 masks that you bring those. Luckily, Dylan had the right shoes but I was under-equipped and was on trash duty. See photos below, including Dylan with a bucket that moments before he had scooped a dead rat out of the water with! Ick!
Other Important Information and Updates | 7/15/2026
Scam Alert - From the State Attorney General’s Office
The Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) has already received many reports of a utility disconnection scam. This scam demands payment along with threats to disconnect the consumer’s service. Avoid this scam by hanging up and contacting your utility provider directly about your account status, using a number you know to be valid.
The following are more examples of scams we can expect to see as we recover:
Government imposter relief scams may claim to be FEMA, or another government organization offering help for a fee, or demanding your personal information.
Avoid this scam: Connect with FEMA directly and follow updates from the Governor and Vermont Emergency Management.
Phony charities that claim to be recovery efforts when they are not.
Avoid this scam: Do your research and only give to valid charities that you have thoroughly researched and vetted.
Dubious contractors without business credentials that claim they can restore damages immediately, requiring upfront payment, but never return to complete the work.
Avoid this scam: Never pay in full upfront for a home improvement project. Make sure you have a written contract. Check residential contractor registration status with the Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation.
When you encounter an unexpected or new interaction, take steps to verify whether it may be a scam by slowing down, logging the contact, reaching out to others and doing research. Warn others about scams by reporting the scams you encounter to the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) at 1-800-649-2424 or online at ago.vermont.gov/cap
Disaster Declaration Supports for Economic Hardships for Employers and Employees including Unemployment Supports
President Biden approved Vermont's disaster declaration, making federal funds available to support recovery efforts. You can read more about what this means for Vermont here. Individuals and business owners in Chittenden, Lamoille, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor counties who have sustained losses can apply for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or can call 800-621-FEMA (3362).
Seven Days article on Disaster Declaration
Vermont's disaster declaration, approved by President Biden earlier this afternoon, allows Vermont to receive "Individualized Assistance," which includes Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). DUA is a federally-funded program that provides temporary unemployment insurance benefits to individuals whose employment or self-employment has been lost or interrupted as a direct result of a major disaster and who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance (UI).
The Vermont Department of Labor (VTDOL) must submit an application to the U.S. Department of Labor for DUA authorization. The Department is working on the application now. More Vermont-specific information about DUA will be available early next week. For an overview of the DUA program, see the FEMA Disaster Unemployment Insurance FAQ Sheet.
Additionally, VTDOL is in the process of onboarding more staff to manage the anticipated increase in applications and calls, including increasing UI Call Center staffing by temporarily reassigning Department staff to support the UI division, ensuring the translation of important documents, and making the UI initial application available online for Vermonters to access beginning next week.
Please refrain from calling the UI Call Center to ask about DUA at this time. It will overload the call center and extend wait times and they will share information, and make it available online, when it's available.