Volunteers welcome in Wilmington
Wilmington can still use help cleaning up from Irene; all volunteer assignments and passes, along with masks and gloves, are being distributed from the Chamber of Commerce office at 14 East Main St. (the Split Ends building).
Stop by the office, or e-mail for more information ([email protected]). If you need volunteers for clean-up, let them know what kind of work you need volunteers to do and how many people you would like to have assigned to you.
Parking at the Chamber office is limited; so take the Moover into town, or find alternate parking. On Saturday and Sunday, park at Twin Valley High School and walk over to the Chamber office. Be sure to check road closure information prior to departing if you are coming from outside the area.
If you have tools (hammers, drills, crowbars, etc.) or wheelbarrows, they will be useful. Wear sturdy boots, long pants and sleeves and bring work gloves. If you have a tractor with front loader or a pick up, let the Chamber know.
FEMA officials visit Halifax
The Halifax Emergency Operations Center (EOC) had visits from FEMA officials on Thursday, stressing the importance for residents to call to report storm damages if they wish to be considered for possible grants or loans. Water, food, cleaning supplies, pet food, and personal care donations are available at the fire station for those in need.
The following road sections and/or bridges suffered significant damage and are closed until further notice, which may be months: Green River Road between Thurber Road and Bucklin Hill Road, Amidon Road between the Massachusetts line and Franklin Hill Road, the middle of Stowe Mountain Road (although residents from each side can reach their homes), Deer Park Road between Josh Road and Green River Road, Reed Hill Road from the intersection with Branch/Collins Road (the bridge is out), and Hale Road at the Guilford Town line.
FEMA center opens in Dover
In addition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Recovery Center now open in Brattleboro at the Withington Skating Facility in Living Memorial Park, FEMA opened a center at the Dover Town Hall on Taft Brook Road.
Hours at both locations are 8 a.m.-6 p.m., seven days a week.
The primary DRC role is to answer questions and help with appeals, so while people are welcome to register there they do not need to visit the DRC if they register online or by phone.
Individuals must call both 211 and 800-621-FEMA (or www.DisasterAssistance.gov) to apply for individual assistance.
The assistance may be in the form of grants for residents; second home owners may be eligible for loans. To report business damage, call 802-828-5627 for state assistance and 802-828-3211 for the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
The DVTA (Moover) is running a special free bus to the Dover DRC through Sept. 16.
Food, clean-up supplies available at Church of Christ
The Church Of Christ, 330 Western Ave., Brattleboro, has set up a relief center with many items available for Vermonters affected by flooding.
They include shovels, rakes, mops, brooms, bucket of cleaning supplies, bleach, laundry soap, spray cleaner, personal care boxes, infant care boxes, diapers, bedding and blankets, food boxes, bottled water, work gloves, 20-inch box fans and paper towels.
Call 802-254-6097 for more information. The center is open Saturday, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sunday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and weekdays, noon to 5:30 p.m.
Extra 3SquaresVT benefits available
Vermont households that received 3SquaresVT benefits (food stamps) in August of 2011 and then lost food during Tropical Storm Irene - either because their homes were flooded or they lost power for four or more hours - are eligible to receive extra benefits to help replenish their food supplies.
How much extra help households can get depends on the value of the food lost and the amount of the 3SquaresVT benefit received in August. The deadline for requesting a replacement benefit related to Tropical Storm Irene is Sept. 17. Call the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) at 800-479-6151 to make a request. Calls will be routed to the nearest district office, based on the phone number they are calling from.
The process for applying is slightly different depending on where the household is located. Households in counties that have been declared a federal disaster area can make a verbal declaration about the loss of food purchased with their August benefits. These counties include Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor.
Households in Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille and Orleans counties must submit a signed declaration about the food they lost to be eligible for replacement benefits.
Food safety advice
The Vermont Department of Health is advising gardeners to throw away any fruits and vegetables – including root crops – that have been in contact with floodwater. According to the federal Food and Drug Administration, all flood-affected crops – fruits and vegetables, above and below ground – should not be consumed, sold or given away.
Apples, pears or other high-growing fruit that were not touched by floodwater should be washed with a known safe source of water before eating.
“Any fresh produce that has been in contact with floodwaters cannot be considered safe to eat,” said Health Commissioner Harry Chen, MD. “This is a change from our earlier advisory. Because the flooding was so extensive and so forceful, there is potential for contamination that cannot be washed or disinfected away.”
Any food that has come into contact with floodwater that is not in a sealed, waterproof container should be thrown away. For canned goods that came into contact with floodwater, remove labels, wash thoroughly with soap and hot water. Then place in a weak bleach solution made with 1 tablespoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach for every gallon of water from a known safe source and leave for 15 minutes. Re-label the cans with a marker.
If you have any doubt about any food item, throw it out. Go to the Health Department's website at www.healthvermont.gov for more information.
Free water test kits available
The Vermont Department of Health is offering free water test kits for residents with private drinking water wells that may have been contaminated with floodwaters.
Contact your Health Department district office or town health officer for a free test kit and disinfection instructions. Water samples must be submitted to the Health Department Laboratory according to instructions in the kit, and must be clearly marked “contaminated by flooding”. Be sure to write your name and address so that results will be mailed directly to you.
Until a test confirms that your water is safe, the health department advises those affected by flooding to boil water for one minute before use in drinking, cooking, making juice or ice, washing fruits and vegetables and brushing teeth. Residents who get their drinking water from a public system should look for boil water orders or other instructions put out by their own system.
ANR offers technical assistance
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) is offering technical assistance to communities and individuals to speed flood recovery. Staff from the agency's Water Quality Division are available to answer questions and provide technical assistance in connection with work affecting wetlands, lakes and ponds, and involving stormwater management.
The Vermont Wetlands Rule provides that emergency repairs in a wetland and its buffer zone do not require a permit if the configuration of the wetland's outlet or the flow of water into or out of the wetland is not altered; and work is related to emergency repair, cleanup, or maintenance of structures and facilities (including utility poles and lines, public transportation facilities, bulkheads, docks, piers, pilings, paved areas, houses, or other buildings) or emergency actions required to provide for public health, safety and welfare for disaster relief in connection with a federal or state-designated disaster.
During this recovery period, ANR will work to expedite approval for emergency repair work through a combination of existing emergency provisions in law, conditions in existing permits that allow repair work, and the exercise of enforcement discretion whereby the division may determine that work may proceed without permits.
In some cases, but not all, a follow-up permit or approval will be issued in the months to come. Questions and requests for technical assistance should be directed to staff in the Wetlands, Lakes and Ponds, and Stormwater Programs at 802-241-3777. Further contact information is available at www.vtwaterquality.org.
Volunteers prepared to help area farmers recover from Irene
As part of a collaborative effort with Rural Vermont, Post Oil Solutions wants to make sure that area farmers are aware that local volunteers are prepared to help them deal with the damage they suffered from Irene. To that end, they have helped organize a Rapid Farm Response Brigade for our region for coming weeks, even months, ahead. More information is available at [email protected] or 802-869-2141.
There are other ways that we can all assist farmers. One is certainly to make a special point of buying local food - from farm stands, farmers' markets, and from retail outlets that carry products from our farmers. A lot of food was not spoiled by the flooding, and local farmers are very conscientious about making sure that they do not sell us tainted products.
Finally, we can also help out by providing financial support to farms as they rebuild after the flooding. The Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund, for example has been set up by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and the Vermont Community Foundation which will make grants directly to farms which sustained damage from Irene. NOFA-VT has also established a Farmer Emergency Fund, go to http://nofavt.org/programs/farm-financial-resources/farmer-emergency-fund for further information.
There are fund raising efforts such as the benefit concert that Fred Eaglesmith and a host of others will be giving, starting at noon, Sunday, Oct. 9, at the Rockingham Meeting House (info: 802-463-9595). Post Oil will also be doing farmer fund raising at all of our events over the next month.
Miscellany
• Harriman Reservoir (a.k.a. Lake Whitingham) received a large amount of debris, both natural and manmade, as a result of Irene. It has been closed to the public while the debris is cleared and water tests have been conducted. According to TransCanada, owners of the reservoir, the company should know within a few days whether the water is safe enough for boating and fishing.
• A benefit concert, Floodstock, is being organized in the Deerfield Valley to raise money for businesses in the Wilmington area that were closed by flooding. The concert will be held on Sept. 23 and 24 at the Snowbarn in West Dover, Adams Farm in Wilmington, and the Grand Summit ballroom at Mount Snow. Ticket prices, band lineups, and other details are pending.
• The state has opened an unemployment office in Wilmington, at the Chamber of Commerce office on East Main Street. Workers may sign up for benefits in person, and self-employed business owners are asked to sign up as well.
• The Green Mountain National Forest in the Bromley and Mount Snow areas has been reopened for recreational use.
• The Vermont and New Hampshire Valley Red Cross has closed the last of its shelters on Tuesday. At the height of the disaster, the Red Cross had 13 shelters open around Vermont, including in Brattleboro.