July 16, 2023 | By Cheryl Casey | Correspondent

Amidst a bustle of activity, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., paid a visit to Waterbury Friday afternoon to view areas damaged by last week’s flooding and talk with municipal workers, volunteers, business owners and affected residents.

U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., (center) meets with staffers from Waterbury’s Edward Farrar Utility District on Friday on Elm Street. Left to right: Matt Jones and Tony Milus from the Wastewater Department and Water Department staff members Kenny Ryan and Kyle Guyette. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The senator arrived on Elm Street as people were enjoying a free lunch buffet provided by Prohibition Pig outside of the restaurant’s brewery building. Reporters from Burlington TV stations toting video cameras dodged trucks pulling trailers and utility vehicles. People in mud-splattered clothes and crusted boots lined up chatting and comparing notes on cleanup progress so far for the morning. Nearby, a bucket loader beeped as it maneuvered for two volunteers to stack multiple damaged appliances into its front scoop.

Along with aides and local state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood, whose district includes Waterbury, Welch first convened with a group of employees from the Edward Farrar Utility District, offering them hugs and handshakes and asking, “Have you had any sleep?” Although some like Kenny Ryan from the Wastewater Department admitted they had pulled all-nighters when the water was coming up early in the week, they assured Welch that they were getting enough sleep in shifts. Welch listened intently as they described the highlights of the public works mitigation and clean-up efforts so far.

Nearby was Municipal Manager Tom Leitz and members of the Waterbury Select Board—Chair Roger Clapp, Vice Chair Dani Kehlmann, and Alyssa Johnson. They filled Welch in on the volunteer response that includes several hundred people so far singing up to lend a hand with cleanup tasks.

“It’s so important to get stuff here right now to people who live here,” said Welch. “There’s something beautiful about everyone coming together.

One volunteer Welch spoke to, Mal Culbertson of North Main Street, shared that even though their house is fine, they are “nervous about climate change” and how soon another such flood event could happen.

“Well…you’re right,” responded Welch, adding, “I don’t know how much more we need to suffer.”

*Building owner Chad Rich shares his frustrations with flood insurance with Sen. Welch. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti*

“Wild weather, not just in Vermont, but the heatwave down south and the wildfires in Canada…you can’t escape it,” Welch said, calling the debates about whether climate change existed “foolish” and a waste of time, but he also expressed conviction that such debates are over. “The challenge now is to go through the process of the transition to a clean energy economy,” he said. “That’s disruptive, but I think it’s indisputable that it’s essential, because we can’t continue with this kind of damage.”

Eric Warnstedt, owner of Prohibition Pig Restaurant and Brewery, gave Welch a tour of the damage caused to the basement and ground floors of the buildings that his restaurants occupy. Space that once held supplies, coolers, and a prep kitchen were destroyed by up to four feet of floodwater, the surfaces still slick with mud. A hired crew working in the lower-level spaces took their lunch break to allow Welch, aides and reporters to file through for a look.

As Welch emerged from the buildings turned work zones, he descended exterior stairs back into the alleyway where he stopped to talk with Chad Rich, owner of both of the Prohibition Pig buildings—23 South Main Street and directly behind at 2 Elm Street. Rich, who previously owned Prohibition Pig, passionately explained to Welch his deep frustration with the cost of flood insurance. He described mitigation techniques that his insurance company required yet they failed in last Monday night’s event of slow-moving water (as opposed to rapidly advancing and receding flood waters). So far, Rich said, he’s hearing from his insurance company that only cleanup, and not losses, would be covered.

“I feel like I just got burned,” Rich exclaimed. “The insurance company should be paying to do the right thing…. I want my money back.” He said he pays $32,000 annually in insurance on the two buildings, but he did not identify the insurance provider. Welch listened and asked questions, offering to connect Rich with staff to learn more about the situation.

*Randall and Elm Street residents and cleanup volunteers take a break for free eats from Prohibition Pig’s kitchen. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti*

*Sen. Welch stops for photos with volunteers during a lunch break on Elm Street on Friday. Photo courtesy Sen. Welch’s office.*

Welch then walked along the brewery’s sidewalk counter. Beside it the lunch buffet was set up and people were working their way through filling takeout containers with Pro Pig’s signature brisket, grits, beans and more. Welch continued to shake hands, thank volunteers, pose for photos, and listen to people stories of their flood experiences this week. Many had homes where giant vacuum-like trucks called “vactors” from St. Albans and South Burlington had visited to extract mud from their basements far faster than people with buckets and shovels could accomplish. The trucks and their crews were popular in the neighborhood on Thursday and Friday. Randall Street resident Alex Cawley, whose home was also flooded by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, proclaimed, “I got my mud sucked today. It’s a good day!”

Speaking with reporters, Welch noted that “the infrastructure improvements made by Gov. [Peter] Shumlin in the rebuilding after Irene definitely helped, so a lot of things that fell apart in Irene remain strong right now.”

Welch also acknowledged he has heard from many Senate colleagues, including conservative Republican Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, and Republican Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana. “My sense is a natural disaster kind of strips away the politics. Everyone knows their state could be affected in the future [by a climate-related disaster], many of the states have been affected already,” Welch said, adding, “Vermonters have always in Congress supported emergency relief—for Louisiana, for [Hurricane] Sandy down in New York. We’ve always been there for others, and now we need their help.”

Welch confirmed that he and fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would be asking for that help and the two had a phone meeting planned for later that afternoon.

*Darn Tough staffers Aoife O’Kelly and Michaela Hall work from the back of a car to hand out new pairs of socks. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti*

One step Welch said he would be taking right away to help Vermonters is to check with the Federal Emergency Management Agency about getting dumpsters where they are needed without municipalities and individuals having to front the fees.

On the sidewalk opposite the brewery, Darn Tough staffers had set up alongside a vehicle with bags and boxes of socks. Employees Aoife O’Kelly, the company’s U.S. sales coordinator, and photo coordinator Michaela Hall handed out free pairs of socks to everyone within reach. O’Kelly explained that she took “what I could grab and fit in my car,” figuring the lunch gathering was a good time to spread the sock love. The day before, O’Kelly did the same in Montpelier and Barre. How many socks had they distributed? “The tally is still in process, but we threw everything we could at it yesterday,” she said.

In addition to its manufacturing facilities in Northfield, Darn Tough operates a factory in downtown Waterbury at Pilgrim Park. The local plant was not affected by flooding, but production was halted company-wide for the week in order to focus on employees and the local communities affected by flooding.

Despite the grimy conditions and piles of debris crusted with mud, spirits seemed high all around on Elm Street, fueled by delicious food from one of Waterbury’s most popular restaurants and rock music playing from a speaker system.

Warnstedt just a couple of months earlier dealt with a flood event of a different kind at his restaurant across Main Street, Hen of the Wood. In April, a sprinkler system malfunction above the restaurant caused copious water damage after the first night the restaurant was open in the new space after its move from the former grist mill on Stowe Street.

At the center of Friday’s hectic scene on Elm Street, restaurant owner Eric Warnstedt (center) oversees debris cleanup, a buffet lunch for the neighborhood cleanup volunteers, along with a visit from a U.S. senator, town and state officials and multiple news media crews. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

During the midday bustle, Warnstedt split his attention among passersby, the officials on their visit, and friends and volunteers loading up a trailer with a giant pile of bags and debris stacked in the alley and on the sidewalk. He kept a watchful eye on the tables under a pop-up tent with containers that staff kept full serving up wings, fries, and sandwiches stuffed with smoked meats—basically, all that was left in the Pro Pig refrigerators.

“This is the last bit of food,” he said. “We threw the rest of the raw stuff in the smokers yesterday and we’re serving it today.”

Across the street, staff at Hen of the Wood were preparing to reopen that night with some space inside off-limits. Prohibition Pig and its brewery, however, will take much more effort to return to some version of normal, Warnstedt acknowledged. “Until further notice” was his best estimation of the closure for now.

Click to enlarge the photos below and see captions.