Barre residents express questions, concerns in town hall with FEMA
"The money that went into my account is like giving a starving child a small cookie for what's happened on my property,"
"The money that went into my account is like giving a starving child a small cookie for what's happened on my property,"
"The money that went into my account is like giving a starving child a small cookie for what's happened on my property,"
On Monday, emotions poured out in Barre as city officials and FEMA held a town hall to answer questions about flood recovery.
"We've been through a lot. These last couple of weeks have been very hard for everyone in the city," said Nicolas Storellicastro, the City Manager of Barre.
The two-hour-long town hall hosted FEMA and the Small Business Administration, to hear questions and concerns from the community.
"Over, actually, $1.6 million, already, has gone out to survivors here in Vermont," said Samuel Harvey, an Individual Assistance Expert with FEMA.
Some thanked FEMA for the money that they've already received but added that it's not enough to cover the repair costs on their homes.
"The money that went into my account is like giving a starving child a small cookie for what's happened on my property," said Richard Gilbert, a resident of Barre.
FEMA told Barre homeowners in that situation to appeal for more funding.
Plus, if you are still applying, Harvey said to read the fine print if your first application is rejected.
"There are very, very few hard stops with the FEMA assistance process," said Harvey.
There was a question about the damage window to qualify for assistance, with some people sharing that they sustained damage after the July 10th and 11th floods.
"It's been raining every other day here, does the disaster declaration and FEMA assistance extend to those subsequent events especially if they were not initially flooded out," asked Washington County representative, Jonathan Williams, on behalf of his constituents.
FEMA said the flood incident period is still open right now in Barre and will only close when it stops raining.
One topic that came up was what to do if this kind of flooding happens again.
"I'm 75 years old, I can't have that rehab house, throw $100,000 into it and have it happen again next year, which is really likely," said Richard Corey, who lives in Barre and his house was destroyed in the flooding.
His neighbor, Gary Hall, agrees.
"It's gonna come again, I agree with Richard, and it's gonna come worse because of the weather changing," said Hall.
Both asking the city and FEMA if places like Vine Street would be declared "chronic flooding places."
"Those decisions will probably come a little bit down the road, after this immediate recovery," said Storellicastro.
FEMA will be reviewing all of the questions from the town hall, working with both the city and the state to find the best path forward for repairs and future flood management.
Updates to Barre's emergency plan can be found here.