Current:Home > Back2 Vermont communities devastated by summer flooding seek $3.5M to elevate homes for victims-LoTradeCoin
2 Vermont communities devastated by summer flooding seek $3.5M to elevate homes for victims
View Date:2024-12-23 22:57:01
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Two of the Vermont communities hardest hit by last summer’s catastrophic flooding have requested $3.5 million in state funding to elevate 20 homes in Barre and the capital city of Montpelier for flood victims who still need safe places to live as the state grapples with a housing crisis.
Many whose homes were significantly damaged or lost are still recovering and saving houses is far cheaper than building new ones, they said at a Statehouse news conference.
“This is an urgent request. These are people living— many — in places that are not completely safe but they have nowhere else to go,” said Barre City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro. And those who are seeking a government buyout won’t know anytime soon if that will happen, officials said.
“We have folks that are living in dangerous situations who cannot wait that long,” said Montpelier City Manager Bill Frasier.
One Montpelier woman lives in a flood-damaged 1870s farmhouse with her two children, said City Council member Lauren Hierl.
“After the flood they had nowhere to go. They have been living with no floors, no walls. She’s been cooking on a grill that entire time,” Hierl said.
The woman has spent at least $40,000 toward the work of drying out and demolding the house, she said. She’s added insulation and subfloors, and no longer has a bathroom on the first floor. If a buyout happens, the bank owns the home so she and her children will be homeless, Hierl said.
“Every day she and her kids get up wondering if they will still have a home,” she said.
The ask comes during a tight budget year and city officials said they are grateful for the help they have already received. A spokesman for Republican Gov. Phil Scott did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The July flooding only exacerbated Vermont’s housing crisis and elevating homes is a cost-effective way to keep people in them and in Vermont, officials said.
“It turns out that there are safe ways to rebuild even in flood planes,” said Vermont state Sen. Anne Watson, who previously served as mayor of Montpelier. ”And part of that means elevating buildings or homes. That is what this money would be used for and as far as we can be preserving housing I think we need to be moving in that direction.”
veryGood! (2452)
Related
- Kendall Jenner Is Back to Being a Brunette After Ditching Blonde Hair
- Get a $120 Barefoot Dreams Blanket for $30 Before It Sells Out, Again
- Maine lobster industry wins reprieve but environmentalists say whales will die
- Buying a home became a key way to build wealth. What happens if you can't afford to?
- Gold is suddenly not so glittery after Trump’s White House victory
- Vermont police officer, 19, killed in high-speed crash with suspect she was chasing
- From East to West On Election Eve, Climate Change—and its Encroaching Peril—Are On Americans’ Minds
- New York opens its first legal recreational marijuana dispensary
- Tennessee fugitive accused of killing a man and lying about a bear chase is caught in South Carolina
- This Waterproof Phone Case Is Compatible With Any Phone and It Has 60,100+ 5-Star Reviews
Ranking
- Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
- ‘At the Forefront of Climate Change,’ Hoboken, New Jersey, Seeks Damages From ExxonMobil
- This Frizz-Reducing, Humidity-Proofing Spray Is a Game-Changer for Hair and It Has 39,600+ 5-Star Reviews
- Minimum wage just increased in 23 states and D.C. Here's how much
- 2 credit unions in Mississippi and Louisiana are planning to merge
- New York Times to pull the plug on its sports desk and rely on The Athletic
- In a Move That Could be Catastrophic for the Climate, Trump’s EPA Rolls Back Methane Regulations
- BP Pledges to Cut Oil and Gas Production 40 Percent by 2030, but Some Questions Remain
Recommendation
-
Powerball winning numbers for November 11 drawing: Jackpot hits $103 million
-
Text: Joe Biden on Climate Change, ‘a Global Crisis That Requires American Leadership’
-
Southern Cities’ Renewable Energy Push Could Be Stifled as Utility Locks Them Into Longer Contracts
-
Long Island Medium Star Theresa Caputo’s Son Larry Caputo Jr. Marries Leah Munch in Italy
-
Craig Melvin replacing Hoda Kotb as 'Today' show co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie
-
Read Ryan Reynolds' Subtle Shout-Out to His and Blake Lively's 4th Baby
-
TikTok Star Carl Eiswerth Dead at 35
-
Epstein's sex trafficking was aided by JPMorgan, a U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit says