Flooding had outsized impact on 4 Vermont mobile home communities

BERLIN, Vt. (WCAX) - Just as it did during Tropical Storm Irene, the flooding last month had an outsized impact on Vermont’s mobile home communities, throwing residents’ lives into disarray.

The Berlin mobile home park was one of the hardest hit communities hit during the floods. Many senior and low-income people lived in what now looks like a ghost town.

“It’s going to take a lot of money to get this back to where it was before. I lost my driveway, my property, it’s underneath this bank,” said Mark Christie, the owner of a mobile home in Barre whose house was decimated in a landslide during the deluge. He now finds himself at a crossroads. “You don’t know what you’re going to get when you’re going to get and it’s a very frustrating situation.”

State leaders Tuesday laid out the next steps for mobile homeowners like Christie -- register with 211 and FEMA, ask for a certificate of condemnation from your town, and don’t demolish your home until the FEMA award process is complete.

“I understand highlighting a process that confirms your home is a total loss is hardly something to celebrate, but we want folks to get as much assistance as quickly as possible,” said Vt. Housing Commissioner Josh Hanford.

FEMA has so far approved $8.5 million in individual disaster grants to homeowners. The maximum award is $41,000.

The cleanup and recovery effort in some communities has been slower. At the Berlin Mobile Home Park, most residents still have all their life’s possessions strewn about, waiting to be cleaned up. Down the street, yellow tags from the local fire marshal warn of mold and structural problems. All the units will likely be a total loss. Some we spoke with said they have received $20,000 FEMA checks. Mobile homes can cost well over $100,000.

FEMA’s William Roy says the grants are no panacea nor were they intended to be. “It’s to help people kickstart their recovery after the disaster. If the federal government was responsible for this, there wouldn’t be any insurance or requirement for insurance,” he said.

So far 61 mobile homes have been deemed uninhabitable. The parks -- frequently built in floodplains -- house many seniors and others on fixed incomes.

“Choosing to go back to that park, or not, is obviously a serious consideration they need to make,” Hanford said. He says some solutions could include buyouts and bringing in fill to raise the parks out of the reach of floodwaters. Leaders say they are also looking to lease FEMA trailers, similar to those brought in after Hurricane Katrina. But FEMA won’t allow those to be placed in floodplains.

Governor Scott Tuesday said he will soon announce the appointment of a flood recovery officer who will handle the logistics and finances of the ongoing recovery.

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