DUMMERSTON — The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) closed its Dummerston Region Incident Command Center (ICC) on Nov. 9.
It was the last of three temporary headquarters established following Tropical Storm Irene to coordinate emergency road and bridge repairs.
The Dummerston command center, which covered 56 towns in the state's southeast region, was critical to restoring mobility along Vermont's storm-damaged state highway network. Leadership for all remaining Irene-related roadwork has been transitioned to the agency's main office in Montpelier.
“It is impossible to put into words how much the Dummerston team has done for Vermont,” said Transportation Secretary Brian Searles. “The vast majority of the state highway system has been repaired and is now ready for winter in large part due to the dedication and sacrifice of the many public and private employees who were stationed in Dummerston.”
For more than two months, the Dummerston ICC was home base to more than 200 AOT employees, as well as hundreds of National Guard members and contract employees.
More than 1,000 highway-recovery personnel were mobilized through the command center to help rebuild bridges and roads as far north as Roxbury and as far south as Brattleboro.
Immediately following Irene, the AOT assembled three incident command centers: one located in Dummerston to oversee all activity in Vermont's southeast region, one in Rutland to oversee southwest Vermont, and one in Berlin to command all Irene-related activity to the north. The Berlin and Rutland ICCs both closed in October.
The Dummerston ICC was charged with repairing some of Irene's worst roadway and bridge damage.
Significant accomplishments include reconnecting all isolated communities within just days following the storm, and then reestablishing heavily damaged, critical travel corridors like Route 4 through Woodstock, Route 30 through Jamaica, Route 131 through Cavendish, and many sections of Route 100.
The work included erecting a temporary bridge over the White River to reconnect Route 73 to Route 100.
Irene struck on Aug. 28 and severely damaged more than 500 miles of state highway, including some 200 state bridges. Today, only two bridge locations remain closed, and all but 18 miles of state roadway are open to public travel.
Questions regarding storm-damaged roads and bridges related to Tropical Storm Irene can be answered by calling the Agency's Irene Storm Center at 1-800-Vermont. People can also visit the agency's website.