Shepeluk: Marking the first anniversary of the July 2023 flood
July 10, 2024 | By Bill ShepelukIt is hard to believe a year has passed since flood waters spilled into communities and downtowns across much of Vermont last July, significantly disrupting our day-to-day lives.
July 2023 outside a multi-family home on flood-impacted Elm Street. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Maybe time seems to have passed so quickly because it happened again in Waterbury and in neighboring towns in December, only five months later? Perhaps it doesn’t seem so long ago because the threat of flooding seems so constant now? Heavy rain is an ever-present threat and it seems routine now for storms to drop 2 inches of rain or more several times a month and often more than once in the same week.
I am an avid fly-fisher, but it seems the rivers and streams are frequently unfishable now, at least in summer, when high, fast-moving, turbid water cascades through our valleys much more frequently than those courses show off as high-quality trout waters. And this week is ripe for more rain!
The flooding Waterbury suffered in 2011 from Tropical Storm Irene was thought by many to be a once-in-a-lifetime event that would serve as a touchstone for this community. So many residents and business owners, all of whom were and are our neighbors, friends, and family members, suffered greatly at the wrath of that storm.
But we cleaned up and rebuilt, and our community moved forward – to great success in many respects. Infrastructure and streetscapes were improved. Some floodplain was restored. New office complexes were designed and constructed by the state and the town. Private developers and not-for-profit organizations built new commercial, retail, residential and community spaces and our town became more vibrant.
Then, other challenges began to surface. Businesses, public and private, both new and existing, began to have difficulty attracting employees. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new work-from-home culture and a lack of affordable, “workforce housing” contributed to the difficulty. As part of a long-term solution, government officials in Waterbury and across the state looked to find ways to develop additional housing stock. To encourage sustainable growth, the state’s compact, rather densely populated downtowns around Vermont appeared well-suited for additional housing development. Though incremental, some progress was being made.
Then it happened.
After days and weeks of rain, Vermont’s saturated, mountainous landscape could no longer hold the rain that poured upon its countryside and neighborhoods last July. Swollen streams and rivers overtopped their banks and overwhelmed their no longer adequate floodplains, spewing water into our streets, basements and even into ground-floor spaces in homes and commercial properties all across our region. In an instant, our housing crisis was amplified exponentially. But how?
We had been here before – only a short, dozen years ago. We knew we had to muck out, clean up, restore, and in some cases rebuild. Now, however, it was clear that would not be enough.
In fact, it became quite obvious that focusing on building new housing in our downtowns could not help alleviate our housing crisis unless we addressed and improved the flood resiliency of the hundreds of single-family homes and multi-family housing units already situated in Waterbury’s flood-prone downtowns and other low-lying areas.
Volunteers clean up at the Wesley United Methodist Church after the July 2023 flood. Photo by Gordon Miller
In August 2023 after the town and volunteers completed the emergency clean-up work, a new organization was formed. Community Resilience for (the greater) Waterbury area – CReW for short – is the long-term recovery group for Waterbury, Duxbury and nearby parts of Middlesex and Bolton. Its mission is to focus on resiliency and to bring that resiliency into the disaster recovery process.
Long-term recovery groups are organizations integral to the federal and state recovery effort. They are necessary to allow Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery funds to be funneled into a community to be available to municipalities and individuals impacted by disasters.
CReW has raised and has been granted almost $160,000 since its inception. A significant portion – about $145,000 – has come from well-established disaster relief, not-for-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations. The other $15,000 has come from generous donations by individual friends and neighbors from near and far. To date, spending on relief and recovery efforts totals about $50,000 – most of that on clean-up and repairs necessary to get residents back into their homes.
The real work of building resiliency is just beginning. With funding in hand and additional contributions, CReW to continue to assist local property owners in flood-prone areas to:
install foundation channels and sump pumps to remove water from cellars efficiently
make foundations more impervious to keep water out
move electrical service entries and boxes and heating equipment out of cellars
modernize heating systems
consider elevating buildings
investigate mitigation measures that may be taken on the land and in and around the river systems to lessen the severity of flooding over time
FEMA staff worked from a temporary office in Waterbury for weeks following the July 2023 flood. Photo by Gordon Miller
As those who have been flooded know, the recovery process can be long and expensive. Often it takes months or more to negotiate the FEMA application process and to file necessary appeals before awards are granted and received. CReW helps those eligible for FEMA grants, Small Business Administration loans and other government assistance to get through the arduous application and administrative processes that often become barriers to necessary financial assistance. CReW also has helped bring individual cases to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund’s “Table of Last Resort” to receive funding as well.
Yet while those in need have found some success in gaining financial assistance through these “professional” relief agencies and organizations, it is time-consuming and stressful. In the meantime, CReW continues to assist those in need to find immediate funding through other relief organizations like our local Good Neighbor Fund, which has been a godsend.
The long-term goal for CReW is to help identify next steps for those impacted by the flood to plan for the future by providing one-on-one support, technical assistance, and financial resources to rebuild and recover with resiliency as a top priority.
CReW is actively encouraging property owners to set their sights higher than simply repairing their damaged structures, returning them to pre-flood condition and status. It has become apparent that simply repairing flood-damaged structures with the same materials and in the same configuration will only invite similar or greater losses of use and value when the next flood occurs.
CReW will help property owners evaluate all options open to them. For some, local government buyouts financed by FEMA may be a solution. For others, whole-house elevations may be considered. Neither option is perfect, however. Costs and tradeoffs are high. Middle-ground options are also available. For instance, a whole-house elevation may be impractical or too expensive, but some components of a home such as heating equipment and utilities can be elevated within the structure or may be relocated to an ancillary building elsewhere on the property, high enough to be out of danger from flooding.
CReW is striving to provide technical assistance, resources and materials, and both volunteer and contractor labor to those who suffered damage from the flood. CReW has employed an outreach coordinator to provide individual administrative support and holistic case management to help those involved in this process. The coordinator helps negotiate the myriad of paths that may lead to organizations that can provide assistance such as FEMA, insurance companies, nonprofit relief organizations, or even volunteers willing to help. It is nearly impossible for those damaged by the flood to identify available resources for assistance when they are trying to tend to the construction needs of their home or business and return to normalcy, while also continuing to work to provide for themselves and their families.
Flood cleanup supplies outside the municipal offices, August 2023. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Recently the outreach coordinator has left the position and CReW is trying to fill it now. If you think you have the skill set necessary to work with those who still need assistance and might be looking for a 25-hour/week job, please visit thecrewvt.org/jobs to apply.
Recovering from a natural disaster is hard work.
It is often invisible work because, from outward appearances, most properties affected by last year’s flooding have been restored.
There is a lot to do, however, to improve these homes to prepare them for the next flood in a way that will minimize damages and allow a quicker re-occupancy. Please help however you can.
Donations to the Waterbury Relief Fund through Revitalizing Waterbury support the work of CReW. Learn more and make a donation online at revitalizingwaterbury.org/waterbury-relief-fund.
Waterbury resident Bill Shepeluk is the chair of CReW and was Waterbury’s municipal manager for more than three decades through 2022.