Three weeks after Tropical Storm Irene whacked southern and central Vermont, local and federal officials are getting closer to a grand total for the damage. The price tag? Nearly $1 billion - so far.
That estimate, which is roughly equivalent to the size of the state's annual General Fund budget, takes into account the total impact of Irene on state transportation infrastructure, the Waterbury state office complex, individual businesses, homes and municipal buildings and roads.
Costs have continued to mount as Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, regional planning commissions, and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns narrow in on staggering losses for repairs, renovations and complete losses.
The total bill for repairing state highways and well-traveled local roads will be about $700 million, according to Sue Minter, deputy secretary of the Agency of Transportation. (Damage to state highways is $553 million and to certain local roads, $170 million.) Both types of road infrastructure qualify for federal highway emergency relief funding, which is available immediately.
Municipal roadways are also in bad shape. Michele Boomhower, who is leading the effort by regional planning commissions to track the amount of town highway damage, said that 1,767 road segments needed to be repaired. Of that total, 199 segments are closed, and 117 are emergency only access sections. There are 211 town bridges that sustained damage; 96 are closed.
Firm estimates for the cost of repairing or replacing town roads gutted by Irene are not yet available. Last week, Steve Jeffrey, the executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said the total could be several hundred million dollars.
Municipal infrastructure damage estimates totaled more than $12 million as of Sept. 6, Jeffrey said.
FEMA has already approved $13.2 million for 2,292 individual households, and that number is likely to increase dramatically as more homeowners turn in required paperwork and get their buildings inspected. In all, the federal agency has received more than 5,000 registrations, and inspection orders have been issued or planned for 3,336 residences. The turnaround time for inspections is 2.14 days, according to Deanna Frazier, a public information officer for FEMA.
Maximum grants of $30,400 have been issued to 102 households that have claimed a total loss of property value.
The Waterbury State Office Complex will cost between $12 million and $20 million to renovate, according to rough estimates from state officials.
The Small Business Agency began evaluating applications for loans last Friday, and has approved about $600,000 so far. That number is expected to climb dramatically, Frazier said.
How much of the costs will be borne directly by Vermont taxpayers – through the General Fund, gas taxes and increased property taxes – is an open question at this point.
That's because FEMA is running out of money between now and Sept. 30 when the federal fiscal year ends, and Vermont is running up against federal funding rules that could curtail the amount of money the state is eligible for.
The reimbursement formulas are broken down differently, depending on which federal agency is footing the bill.
FEMA pays for public assistance for local roads, sewage and water plants and municipal buildings.
The formula for reimbursement ratio is 75 percent federal, 12.5 percent state and 12.5 percent municipal.
However, if the state exceeds $79 million worth of damage to residences, businesses, municipal infrastructure, including debris removal, the federal reimbursement rate would jump to 90 percent. Though individual assistance numbers count toward the public assistance reimbursement rate threshold, compensation for household and business losses does not increase. The governor has to place a pro forma request for the higher federal rate, once the threshold has been reached.
The U.S. Department of Transportation distributes federal emergency relief funding for state highways. Though the state is eligible for 100 percent reimbursement, the federal money must be spent within 180 days. In addition, there is a $100 million cap on federal highway emergency relief.
Vermont's congressional delegation is seeking waivers for each of these limits on spending under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, according to Minter.
“It's impossible to know what the impact is on the state until we know the story with the feds,” Minter said. “Every cost is tied to federal spending. The stakes are extremely high. We're a bit of a standout in terms of the rest of the nation in terms of impact of Tropical Storm Irene. I don't think other states were hit as badly as we were.”
Minter said the Agency of Transportation is in short-term emergency mode right now, but as the agency devises temporary fixes for roads that have been eaten away by rivers, engineers are in the process of designing long-term fixes. Bridge spans in some places may need to be lengthened and roads will likely be elevated to guard against future flood damage.
The state has prioritized the work based on levels of triage. The first task was to ensure all towns had emergency access and utilities were able to get through to make repairs, Minter said. Both of those goals were met in the second week after the flood. Last week, the major east-west corridors, Route 4 and Route 9, were reopened
The next big push is opening up 15 segments of road that are only accessible for emergency vehicles. Minter said Route 30 is still rough and Route 107 below Bethel is going to take “more time.” Very large segments of Route 107 are now part of the White River.