Flood recovery group CReW outlines work, announces event, seeks financial support
February 9, 2024 | By Bill Shepeluk
Editor’s note: The following is the first annual report by the long-term flood recovery group called CReW (Community Resilience for the greater Waterbury area). It was submitted for publication in the Waterbury annual report and to Waterbury Roundabout to share with the community.
In July 2023, flood waters spilled into downtown Waterbury, into several residential areas across our town, and into the neighborhoods of surrounding communities. It was the second time in less than a dozen years the Winooski River and some of its tributaries rose above their banks and out of their narrow and inadequate, uninhabited flood plains, bringing devastation to more than 200 local residents and property owners and heartbreak to the thousands who call this region home. Five months later, in December 2023, it happened all over again.
What’s a community to do when facing such tough circumstances, especially when it now seems events like these will be far more frequent than we ever imagined, even in the aftermath of Irene? The answer, of course, is to help out, clean up, rebuild and now, most importantly, to help those vulnerable to flooding to be prepared for the next similar event in order to reduce the extent and financial impacts of damages. Preparing has to mean building resiliency.
In August 2023, CReW – Community Resilience for the greater Waterbury area – was founded to do just that. Citizens of Waterbury and nearby towns interested in helping neighbors recover from the flooding came together to form an organization to provide assistance to flood victims, both residents and businesses alike. People like Theresa Wood and MK Monley, who provided relief after Irene through ReBuild Waterbury, provided some critical foundational information to get the organization up and running. Revitalizing Waterbury, our local Downtown Organization, once again agreed to step up as fiscal agent and to provide other important administrative support. We all thank Karen Nevin, RW’s executive director, board president Julie Frailey, and all of the RW board for their important involvement.
The ten-member CReW Board of Directors has the mission of helping residents and businesses in the greater Waterbury area, which includes Bolton, Duxbury, Moretown and Middlesex, to build back smarter from the July 2023 flood. FEMA has recognized CReW as a Long-Term Recovery Committee and such recognition is key to opening the door for additional federal funding for relief and mitigation in our communities.
CReW is striving to provide technical assistance, resources and materials, labor – both volunteer and through paid contractors – to those who suffered damage from the flood. CReW will soon hire an Outreach Coordinator and will work with other organizations, such as Capstone Community Action, to provide 1:1 administrative support and holistic case management to help those impacted negotiate the myriad paths that may lead to assistance, whether from FEMA, insurance companies, nonprofit organizations or even to volunteers willing to help. It is nearly impossible for those dealing with flooding to identify available resources for assistance when they are trying to tend to the construction needs of their home or business and a return to normalcy, while also continuing to work to provide for themselves and their families.
To date, CReW has raised $124,978, including grants from the Vermont Community Foundation, the Lutheran Disaster Relief Fund, Catholic Charities USA, and numerous individuals. So far, CReW is spending its resources to help pay for technical advice, buy materials, or pay for services such as mold remediation, the purchase of replacement appliances, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and work on sinkholes and foundations. CReW and the Good Neighbor Fund, which is administered by our Community Action Service Team (CAST) here in Waterbury, are working in a complementary fashion to provide the essential financial support necessary for those in need due to flooding. We are so grateful for the support of the Good Neighbor Fund, which has been swift to help people in need in so many ways. The funds they provide are often more “free from strings” that may prohibit help to those who don’t meet limiting income thresholds, which when considering the financial impacts of a disaster, such as a flood may cause, can be far too low.
CReW has and is continuing to help with clean-up, demolition, mold remediation, temporary heating, re-construction and even stop-gap housing for those impacted. As important as those measures are, they are not enough. Unlike ReBuild Waterbury after Tropical Storm Irene, CReW expects its mission will carry on long after the immediate needs of those flooded are met. Building resilience in the affected buildings and even in the affected neighborhoods to minimize or prevent damages from future flooding events is and will continue to be CReW’s goal.
In order to meet the long-term goals, CReW’s hope is to provide financial and technical resources, as well as materials and labor to help property owners and government officials to:
install foundation channels and sump pumps to remove water from cellars efficiently
make foundations more impervious to keep flood water out
move electrical service entries and boxes and heating equipment up and out of cellars
modernize heating systems
elevate buildings, as feasible
investigate larger mitigation measures that may be taken on the land and in and around the river systems to lessen the severity of flooding over time.
These tasks require expertise in planning, engineering and construction services as well as project management and financing. CReW hopes to partner with Efficiency VT, Downstreet Housing, Capstone, FEMA, USDA, Habitat for Humanity, the Town of Waterbury, the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission, the State of Vermont, UVM and even private engineering firms to pursue these opportunities for planning and implementation.
To kick off such an ambitious undertaking, CReW intends to hold a Planning & Recovery Fair on March 16th at Brookside Primary School. The organizations and government entities CReW hopes to partner with, including contractors with particular expertise, those flooded, and the public at large, all will be invited. Please consider attending and bring along your questions and ideas, and please keep an eye out for the details of the Planning and Recovery Fair. We want to remind neighbors who are looking for flood recovery help to email waterburyhelp@gmail.com and we will help you get connected to assistance.
Finally, any financial donation you can make to CReW or to the Good Neighbor Fund to be used to help those who suffered damages to their homes or businesses will be greatly appreciated. Under the best of circumstances, it will take months for all immediate needs to be met. Your donation will help meet the immediate challenges those flooded have and it will help facilitate and build the resiliency we need to make our communities stable and sustainable into our future.
Donations can be sent to:
Good Neighbor Fund waterburycast.org/good-neighbor-fund
We are so proud to be part of this community, with so many people who have helped their neighbors in so many ways! As we learn, together, to build our “flood muscles,” let’s remember that we are all part of making our community strong and resilient, and we count you all as part of the CReW!
Former Waterbury Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk is Chair of CReW.