(Host) After Tropical Storm Irene, only communities that have adopted plans to reduce damage from flooding will be eligible to receive federal funding through FEMA’s Flood Hazard Mitigation Program.
That program helps cities and towns to develop and update emergency strategies and recovery efforts, and to build smarter structures.
But as VPR’s Kirk Carapezza reports very few communities have adopted plans, so now there’s a renewed urgency to get them in place.
(Carapezza) Just 34 Vermont communities have formally approved disaster mitigation plans, and FEMA says 16 communities have plans pending.
The goal now is to have all communities in the state working to reduce future flood damage.
(Colvin) "It’s certainly something that we’re considering as part of the mix to ensure that future damage from flood related events are not as severe as the one that we just realized."
(Carapezza) That’s Bill Colvin. He’s the community development director for the town of Wilmington.
Irene hit Wilmington especially hard. It damaged Town Hall and the Fire Department, and now Colvin says a special committee is deciding where and when Town Hall re-opens.
(Colvin) "Perhaps we go back into the prior municipal office location or perhaps there are other alternatives. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is a tool for mitigating damage either back in the old location or in a new location."
(Carapezza) Other towns are facing similar decisions. In Bolton, the Select Board has approved new flood hazard area regulations. In Hartford, the Board of Trustees wants to abandon the old library that was flooded in the storm in favor of a new facility – in a new location – that might be protected from future flooding. In Roxbury, Irene took out portions of Route 12A. Culverts and guardrails were destroyed and bridges were washed out.
Kim Livalera is on the Roxbury planning commission. She says the mitigation program has given the town a chance to really assess all that damage.
(Livalera) "We were already kind of in the middle of doing all of that. Irene jumped the gun on us a little bit. But I think that’s probably the best thing that can come of it is that we’ll learn from it."
(Carapezza) FEMA says all communities in Vermont should be involved in some way in developing hazard mitigation plans.
Marilyn Hilliard is FEMA’s mitigation branch director in Vermont. She says there’s no way to know how much money cities and towns will receive for their plans, but she says it’s going to be historic.
(Hilliard) "For every dollar spent on a mitigation measure, four dollars of recovery money can be saved. So not only do we save the tax payers’ dollars, but we are reducing the risk to people and property."
(Carapezza) Hilliard says, in the wake of Irene, that’s the most important thing a community can do for its citizens.
For VPR News, I’m Kirk Carapezza.
(Host) FEMA has given conditional approval just this week to six towns: Lincoln, New Haven, Orwell, Ripton, Eden and Wardsboro.
CONDITIONAL APPROVAL
(October 27, 2011)
Eden
Wardsboro
Lincoln
New Haven
Orwell
Ripton
Arlington
Bristol
Northfield
Westminster
Windham
Woodstock
Norwich
Newbury
Hartland
Washington
Roxbury
Worcester
FORMAL APPROVAL
(October 27, 2011)
Barnard
Bethel
Bradford
Braintree
Brattleboro
Bridgewater
Brookfield
Chelsea
Corinth
Fairfax
Fairfield
Fairlee
Georgia
Grafton
Granville
Hancock
Hartford
Marlboro
Montgomery
Pittsfield
Plymouth
Pomfret
Randolph
Rochester
Royalton
Sharon
Stockbridge
Strafford
Thetford
Underhill
Waitsfield
West Fairlee
Newfane, Town And Village Of