BRATTLEBORO — State and federal officials have sharpened their pencils, and the tallies for the scale and cost of the damage from Tropical Storm Irene are starting to come in.
The damage to state highways and bridges will be in the hundreds of millions, according to a Vermont Agency of Transportation official.
Approximately 700 residential structures were severely damaged or destroyed, according to preliminary estimates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
A total of 423 owner-occupied dwellings were significantly damaged, said Mark Bosma, communications director for Vermont Emergency Management. Approximately 101 homes were destroyed. The number of damaged rental properties totaled 146 of which 23 were destroyed.
Town highway costs are still too fluid to even guesstimate at this point.
“It’s too dynamic,” said Chris Cole, director of planning for the Agency of Transportation. “Every time we look at something, something else can pop up. With flash flooding last week, we’re redoing work we’ve already done.”
East-west access still limited
Crews from the AOT and the Vermont National Guard, aided by private contractors, carved emergency exit routes into all communities isolated by the raging torrents that made mincemeat of state highways on Aug. 28.
With emergency routes opened, scores of volunteers helped deliver food, water, and cleaning supplies to the hardest-hit areas.
Creating an east-west travel corridor is a top priority for the Shumlin administration. At present, there is no direct route through southern Vermont from New Hampshire to New York State.
The rough, rocky passages created by emergency crews aren’t designed for residential travel. They are strictly to be used as emergency access routes for first responders, supply vehicles, and the Guard, according to Cole.
The AOT has formed two “incident command centers” — one in Rutland and another in Dummerston — that will be responsible for coordinating recovery efforts among local, state, and federal entities.
AOT has opened Route 9 from Brattleboro to Wilmington for limited traffic “at your own risk,” intended for local and essential vehicles only.
Route 9 from Bennington to Wilmington is also closed, but AOT says it may have a temporary bridge in Woodford open later this week.
Route 100 is open, but at reduced levels with several single-lane segments between Jacksonville and Wardsboro. The road is closed south of Jamaica.
Route 30 is navigable (with detours) from Brattleboro through Townshend, but has several bridges out in Jamaica and Winhall.
An official pass is needed to enter Wilmington.
Google has compiled a compete map of roads and bridges that are closed in Vermont.
The Windham Regional Commission has also put together an interactive map showing local road closures. .
Motorists are asked to stay off damaged roads unless it is absolutely necessary, so that repair crews can work unimpeded. They are also asked to drive carefully and be aware that the current rains may have created new road washouts on damaged roads.
More rain hits area
Heavy rain on Monday in Windham County continued into Tuesday, sending streams and rivers rising and raising fears that the progress made over the past week of cleanup and recovery from Tropical Storm Irene might be washed away.
As of Tuesday evening, there were no reports of fresh flood damage, although the Deerfield River in Wilmington and the Rock River in Williamsville are both running high.
According to spotter reports submitted to the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., rain totals from Monday night and early Tuesday morning ranged from about 2 inches in Westminster West and Ball Mountain Dam in Jamaica, to 2.5 inches in West Wardsboro and 3.78 inches in West Brattleboro.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, which flooded Louisiana over the weekend, were expected in the area on Wednesday. The weather service says an additional 1-3 inches of rain is likely.
Another death blamed on flooding
The storm has claimed another fatality in Windham County. On Sunday morning, according to Brattleboro Police Lt. Michael Carrier, a man’s body was found on Williams Street near Whetstone Brook.
Police identified the man as Anthony Doleszny, 52, of Brattleboro.
According to Carrier, a preliminary investigation revealed that Doleszey rode his bicycle around several of barricades on Williams Street and then fell into the washed-out portion of the roadway and into Whetstone Brook.
The body was transported to the state medical examiner’s office in Burlington for an autopsy, but Carrier said that, at this point in the investigation, foul play is not suspected.
Four other deaths were attributed to Irene, including a drowning in Wilmington.
Teamwork in action
The first order of business remains ensuring public safety, according to Jeb Spaulding, secretary of the Agency of Administration.
More than 350 Vermont Guard members are helping to move supplies, clear roadways and to deliver ready-to-eat meals, medical supplies, and water by helicopter to communities cut off from the state highway system.
Units from the Maine and Virginia Guard are now in Vermont to help out as well, while an Illinois unit has finished its work and is leaving the region.
The Maine Department of Transportation is sending workers and equipment to Vermont. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing on-the-ground logistical support and has brought in dozens of truckloads of emergency goods to the state.
The Vermont State Police have 120 law enforcement officials helping to stabilize communities traumatized by flooding.
In addition, game wardens, Department of Motor Vehicles officers, and liquor control officers are assisting the police by carrying commodities to homes and checking on Vermonters who may need help.
Fire safety inspectors are evaluating structural damage to flood-wracked buildings. The U.S. Border Patrol and the county sheriffs and municipal police departments have also offered to assist in the recovery.
Working with FEMA
The state is assessing the damage from Irene and getting cost figures to FEMA as soon as possible. The state is busy inventorying the public and private property losses, so that it can file for major disaster relief with the White House as soon as possible.
Major public assistance shouldn’t be difficult to obtain, Spaulding said, because the state has clearly had more than $1 million worth of damage (the FEMA threshold).
Garnering federal assistance for private homeowners and business owners, however, will be more difficult, according to Spaulding. FEMA makes a determination of funding based on the number of residences that have been destroyed and the scale of the disaster.
“We are hell-bent on getting assistance, particularly to individuals,” Spaulding said.
Power, phone service is nearly restored
Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power have restored electrical service to all but the most heavily damaged areas of Vermont.
“In the immediate wake of the storm we had over 50,000 Vermonters without power,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said Friday. “The fact that five days later that number has dropped to under 1,000 demonstrates how well prepared our state’s utilities were to handle this storm.”
FairPoint Communications said it has restored land-line telephone service to Dover and Marlboro over the weekend.