 Good morning today. We'll have updates from emergency management director for and and transportation secretary Flynn Also from General Roy of FEMA with an update on the mob pillar mobile home park Our teams will continue to work with local partners on assessing the damage of this week's flooding Which will be important as we determine next steps as we've discussed. There are certain thresholds that need to be met To reach a point where a new disaster declaration can be made with FEMA support to follow As you may recall, there are two levels public assistance to help with infrastructure and Individual assistance, which is a much higher bar to clear Our towns are well equipped and familiar with that process when it comes to public assistance and that work is underway Whether or not we meet thresholds for federal help It'll be important for the state to have an understanding of the damage people and businesses have sustained So as commissioner Morrison went over yesterday if you're in immediate need of major help Call nut 2-1-1 But if you're working to clean up and make minor repairs focus on that first Contact your insurance company then report your damage online if possible at Vermont 2-1-1 dot or This will help us determine whether we meet the federal thresholds and see what the state needs to do moving forward I want to reiterate There is there is no active program in place at this stage for direct financial support But we need the data to see what might be possible for what should be done down the road So again report damage take photos and save receipts Our teams will also continue to reach out directly to community organizations across the state to identify needs in The meantime again, I'm asking all of Vermont is who are able to step up to help your community in any way you can We know there are people who could use a helping hand out there and even the little things can make a big difference So with that I'll turn it over to director for Good morning. Thanks for being here Quick update from Across the state all rivers are receded below flood stage Over monitor should remain vigilant river levels are still higher than normal and most have extremely strong currents Everyone is encouraged to stay clear of these potentially dangerous areas Continue to respect all road closures and never drive or walk in a flooded area To date the state has received no reports of death or injuries resulting directly from this flood During this event we activated nine swift water teams that made a total of 12 rescues as reported earlier three people were rescued from a home in Jamaica and there were nine separate rescues from vehicles caught in floods Our teams have also assisted with some voluntary evacuations from residences that were threatened by water But not inundated As of late at yesterday afternoon we demobilized the remaining two swift water teams Those teams remain available But they are back in quarters The emergency operation center remains activated if towns need additional assistance They can contact their us through the year their emergency management director The team at the emergency operation center is in the process of collecting damage reports from towns and state agencies To determine if the state qualifies for public infrastructure repair assistance as the governor mentioned All the shelters across the state have closed as residents have used them I have now returned to their homes or made other arrangements the Vermont emergency management website and social media channels will list any other Shelters or warming centers should they come online? We are working closely with 211 to capture damage to residences and businesses as a result of the flooding So governor mentioned if you have immediate needs for shelter of food, please call or text 211 If you do not need immediate assistance, but your home or business was damaged the result of this flood Please go online to Vermont 211.org to report your damages when your situation is stable Please use the online form to report damage If you do not have access to the internet, you can make your damage reports by calling 211 It's being to the operator If prompted to do so leave a message and they will return your call The damage reports will be used to quantify the damages to residences and businesses To determine if we may be eligible for federal assistance in the wake of this event At this time, we do not know if any communities or the state as a whole will qualify for federal assistance But we want to make sure that we accurately compile this data so that we understand where we are in regards to the thresholds that the governor mentioned Thank you with that. I will turn it over to Secretary Flynn from agency transportation Thank you director. Good morning I'd first like to take you back to the floods of July and August And I'm pleased to report that the last road that was closed from that event Opened last Friday. That is route 107 in Stockbridge So regarding this week's events We are at this moment At two roads remaining fully closed. Those are us 302 from Berrytown to Orange and Vermont 73 in Sudbury from Brandon to Willow Brook One road and only one road is partially closed to this point and that is route 108 at Spruce Peak I mentioned yesterday that is a project that the resort is Undertaking with Stowe And we're working with them and want to get the word out that they're working to get that open to temporary two lane As soon as possible, and then they'll determine a permanent fix thereafter There are no issues with rail There are no issues with air The Memorial Valley rail trail has been assessed All of the large sites that were damaged from July Were survived in construction on those from the July recovery continues There were 15 minor Damage areas from this week's events very minor and that should be All repaired within a few days The Missusquoie Valley rail trail has been fully assessed The agency has conducted three bridge inspections Two in Milton and one in Tunbridge. We have three planned for today One in Mount Holly one in Plymouth and one in Chelsea We are working V-tran staff is working with the town of Fairfax today town manager and the road foreman They have a slope issue on local roads and the town we're told intends to get a contractor on that site today As director for and mentioned With VEM and others AOT helps to survey the landscape with respect to towns as of this morning We have spoken to 75% of all the towns in the state and that information is passed to VEM to the SEOC for their awareness From that there are currently 33 Towns that have indicated some degree of damage. I don't have any extent as to what that actually is You heard yesterday. I believe when Secretary Boucher was talking about schools much of the issue just happens to be we're seeing or we were at least yesterday We're seeing mud road conditions like we would have seen in perhaps March or April. So that's could be part of what they're dealing with We have 37 damaged sites on The federal highway network on our state system. I mentioned we have two roads closed, but we still have 37 damaged sites The only site of real significance is the US Route 2 in the St. Johnsbury where there is a slide. So when I say damaged sites, I want to put that into perspective It's not all like it was in July And we have three contractors working with us today And that concludes my report and I would turn over to general Roy from FEMA Thank you, director. I appreciate that Good morning before I hit on the direct housing discussion. I just want to cover a couple basics here As we've discussed many times, you know, FEMA is assisting Vermont in three Programmatic areas. The first one is individual assistance and under as an individual assistance FEMA's provided over twenty four point six million dollars after Vermont is affected by the floods from the summer And of that twenty two point nine million dollars has been allotted for housing Repair and about one point seven million dollars went towards replacing personal property We continue to help for monitors who cannot live in their damaged homes And help find a safe and temporary place to live about three point five million dollars has been approved for over 1500 residents to rent housing while repairs or replacing of their houses and continue on Under public assistance our public assistance programs which provides funding to repair or place damage infrastructure We have 1458 projects right now with more to come and Estimate is about six hundred million dollars worth of of Costs associated with those projects six hundred million dollars and growing Today we've obligated 22 projects for just over seven hundred thousand dollars, but these are the early stages And we expect those to grow very quickly And in fact we estimate that we'll have over fifty million dollars by the end of January Obligated for Vermont for public assistance And then the last and a long-term one is our interagency recovery coordination our long-term recovery And we're working with the appointed chief recovery officer Doug Farnham To take a look at the focus areas in which the federal government can assist Vermont We've activated all of the six recovery support functions from our federal partners And we've identified five focus areas for the long-term recovery increased housing Kickstart economic recovery enhanced resilience of critical infrastructure increased capacity for communities to plan for and recover from Disasters and lastly enable and enhance food security for at-risk populations during disasters So we'll work hand-in-glove with the state task forces to bring about Whatever assistance we can from the federal government for that And then under direct housing. I know that's a subject to shore based upon the decision with a group site So those who cannot find appropriate rentals of their own Like we talked about the rental assistance program are being helped through our direct housing and leasing programs We did initial assessment and there were based upon either Substantial damages or destroyed there was a population of 260 people who met that requirement at the very beginning of the disaster That we reached out to And of that population we started with somewhere between 1560 who expressed interest in FEMA helping them find Temporary housing for up to 18 months there are There are a sequence of things that we do to place Individuals in temporary housing And again, they're sequential. So the first thing we look for because it's the easiest thing to do is Multi-family properties that need to be repaired. We go in we repair them as part of the lease process We are able to put our applicants into those. That's the first level we pull the second lever we pull is for Our mobile home use units or someplace recreational vehicles, which we wouldn't do in Vermont because the weather So we take a look to see where we can potentially place mobile homes on either private properties or on commercial properties And if that's not working then the next one we pull is to see if we can expand a commercial park to add additional spots If that doesn't work, then we move into what's called direct lease and which we look for Apartments that are available think of corporate locations, you know, so if your company sent you to Vermont, you know, they typically have a Rental that they'll put you in so we put up a request for any corporations that may have those available for us And then the very last lever that we pull is the group site for mobile homes Why because it takes so very long to put that in place Well in the case of Vermont We recognize very early on that there was a housing challenge before the storm only exacerbated by the storm So what did we do? We pulled every single lever at the same time To try to get ahead of of the winter time And so in order to do that we work very closely to find a group site that we could put in place In this case Monpilia looked like the best location for us to do that with and we actually entered into agreement To utilize that facility should we require it and we continued on with that planning Well, this you know as we're getting ready to actually move forward The direct lease program came forward as it normally would have and said, okay We found X and out a number of Facilities for you to be able to use for your applicants And there were enough for us to be able to utilize to take care of those people we were working with Which had been 25 Reduced to 21 and as of this one is down to 19 the two that went from from 21 to 19 one is is actually Was able to is in the process of purchasing a home and everything went through and the other applicant found a permanent apartment And this is what we expect the longer it takes to place people You know the chances are they'll find their own permanent solutions, which is ultimately what we want But that's why you saw us move forward on the group site And now we're we're moving to put people into direct lease because we pulled all those levels Simultaneously in order to try to help people as quickly as we could so I hope that explains the process that we utilize To help our our applicants here in Vermont I'm sure you probably have additional questions at that But bottom line up front is we wanted people to know that those who have received assistance from Vermont if your Status changes and you need additional help. Please contact FEMA You know one eight hundred six two one three three six two one eight hundred three three one six two one three three six two To update us on where you are The team that we have here in Vermont has made over eight thousand Callouts to those people who have been impacted by the storm and because of their efforts They have actually been able to provide an over eight million dollars of additional assistance because they were able to update their status So we want to make sure that people have the opportunity to continue to reach out if their status changes Okay, so with that I'm going to turn it back to the governor and stand by for questions sir Thank you general Roy. We'll open up to questions For also Roy kind of talking about the direct housing and trailers and everything There was that contract signed with the city that involves some things such as infrastructure kind of other money Do you explain a little bit what happened to that contract now in the infrastructure water sewer those going up there certainly? so the contract we actually had with the city was for the property itself and then We would continue if we were going to place mobile homes You know we would have put the infrastructure in we're obviously not going to do that We were not going to spend tax related dollars that we don't need to But we do have a fixed-term lease with the city that's being negotiated with GSA in the city And so they're working towards agreeing how much that's going to be so Montpellier will end up with money I'm just not sure at this point how much because it's an agreement between GSA and the city Thank you sir why did this announcement seem to catch the state by surprise? to be honest it The timing of it was we weren't sure when the direct lease but was going to Come to fruition And based upon what we assessed the market was you know We weren't sure that anything would come of it and then all of a sudden You know in fact that the three National vendors were able to come up with the properties the units that we needed to facilitate it So not only was a state you know it say this but I was a state complex price We were actually you know pleasantly surprised to see oh wow there are our properties here that will be able to support Those who need assistance Late last Friday actually is when we when the word came down on that and so we worked very diligently To ensure that there was going to be enough matches for the people we had for the direct lease And and make a decision on on pulling the plug on the group site how What where are these you mentioned there's three National organizations is who are they where I you know I'm not sure I can release at which companies they are and nor can we actually say where those properties are I will tell you that we are able to place two individuals in LaMauro and 14 individuals in Washington County Into that direct lease program. Oh, by the way, we also have individuals we're working with on the other type of assistance, which is the mobile home units So we've got two going into Into a location in Windsor County, and we've got three going into location in Orange County And we've already placed one individual on a private site here in bird and Barry One of the big concerns at the beginning was we couldn't find places that weren't in the flood play And so I mean you have to tell me exactly where but how how did we come to this? Decision or how where where did how did we find these these, you know, these parks that aren't in the floodplain? so The ones actually in Windsor County are Managed by state of Vermont as well For for housing locations and then one in orange wasn't in an impacted area at all So which which allowed us to place them And when will these I know they're the trailers are being staged when are they going to be moved and when can people move certainly so all All five of the ones going into commercial parks are actually in place right now And they're going through the sequencing of of energizing them checking them to make sure that's safe And then they'll license in India the individuals into them We're hopeful that that within the next week or so The ones that are in orange will be completed and potentially the ones in Windsor as to the direct lease program We we believe by the end of next week will have the first person in a direct lease a location And and are shooting for mid-January to have everybody in their location Which is great because the group site we would have been struggling to get on there by the end of February What is the communication look like I guess the city of Montpelier with all this cuz talking to local leadership over there They were pretty astounded and caught up very much off-guard. Yes, sir. I Can understand that Again, as I said, we were kind of surprised that direct lease came through as well as it did as well and all I can say is is that when when we found that we have the capability to Save taxpayers dollars and take care of the applicants, you know, we made the right decision And then we began to engage with the city quite frankly You know the weekend ran into it and that's why you know it kind of the information kind of slowed down I will say that one of your brethren was well ahead of the ahead of it by talking to those who were we were working with and Hearing that they were getting offered places to stay other than the park And and that kind of you know Quite frankly, you know Started getting the word out before weaving and had a chance to you know to pass it on to the city in the state You also mentioned was it six hundred million dollars that we Had an in damage from this just this past summer's floods. Yes, sir Do you know what like a state match on that would be I know it probably depends on what bucket and what project Certainly great question. So so right now the cost year for Vermont is 25 75 And With some cap some small caveats for instance the the president approved a hundred percent for Debris removal for up to a 30 day period Within the the first 120 days of the of the storm So the state gets to pick what was the most expensive portion to get that at a hundred percent And then we had a hundred percent for for emergency protective measures That they can pick the most expensive 30 days and do for that as well Everything else right now is a 25 for the state 75 for fed. However Once we exceed I think it's 111 plus million dollars so short of 112 That the this the state is eligible for Transition to a 90-10 so 10 percent on the state 90 percent for the fed and we We're we're trying to get there before Town day a town voting day of in march I'm not sure because the complexity of the project said we'll get there or not But we you know with 600 million dollars worth of damage. We know we'll get there. We just don't know when Quick question for the governor I mean when you see sort of these numbers about the state match and 600 million What do we have to pay? I mean, how do you take that into account when you're building your budget? Well, again, we want to make sure that we have the match available as we did last year With some of the the match for all the federal programs that came along whether it was the inflation reduction act and and so forth and the bipartisan infrastructure bill and those We need to make sure that we have the match because we don't want to let any federal dollars slip through our fingers Um, so when we're building our budget, we're considering all of that A couple folks on the phone. We'll start with Emma cotton vt. Digger Hi, can you hear me okay? We can Great. Um, I've got a few questions um related all to the flooding on monday Um, I wonder if you could tell us if there have been any damage reports to two on one so far He said yesterday that it would be a close call whether we can you know get federal assistance for this I wonder if that's still your calculation based on what you know I I really haven't received an update on the the calls from two one one, but uh, 7 a.m. We have as of 7 a.m. We had 20 calls into that line. Uh, so we're still analyzing the information Great. Okay. Thank you. Um, I also wonder if you might be able to talk about how The state checks in with marginalized communities during a flood like this I'm particularly thinking about people who don't speak english or people with disabilities How does the state make sure those people were properly informed about what was coming and that they were safe? sort of in general and also With regard to you know what happened on monday We do have translation services, but perhaps Eric can comment on that further as well Yes, that's a population that we're always concerned about so we anticipate their needs and try to work with them Through the local emd's so the local emd's know with their local constituents and know what their needs might be We also work through interpreters and the pio will work through ensuring the language multiple languages are utilized in our press releases and through our public messaging so we do try to To address those Individuals in a way that they can understand and comprehend so but it is something that we continuously strive to improve Hey, thank you. And then my last question is governor Scott yesterday said we'll learn something from this storm I just wonder if you could expand a little bit on that. What do you think we're gonna learn? You know We'll we'll learn more as the damage assessments come in but but again, I think Having these two storms one right after the other and the hyper sensitivity of people during During the holiday times as well as just coming off from recovery Is something that we're cognizant of and and we went into this understanding that as well but But I I think I'm again Hardened by the compassion of vermonters Their toughness their ability to to get back up and and do the hard work To to help their neighbors and and to help their communities So so far so good in that regard but But we want to make sure that we Address all the issues that we're not missing anything The communication aspect is so important. It reinforces the importance of all of you and communicating Our perspective and in the perspective perspective of of those victims as well. So We're all in this together and I think it's just again reinforces that What we've done is working, but we need to do more of it and make sure that we Nothing nobody slips through the cracks so to speak Great. Okay. That's all for me. Thank you very much Carly vermont public Carly are you muted? No, we're not getting audio Carly. So I'm gonna come back to you in a minute Um Back to the room for secretary Flynn. We have christmas right around the corner holiday season the FAA airports are expecting a record amount of traffic with the pandemic continuing to wind down it goes Where do you expect on the roads here and we're on over the next week is the holiday season? What do I expect on the roads like you expect to message influx of people compared to years past? I haven't seen projections that are going to indicate tremendous increase of traffic But we know that there always is an increase of traffic during the holiday period. So That would seem logical. Um, I also have not seen at this point What I would call a problematic weather forecast that fire into the weekend regarding road conditions So that would be favorable at this moment, but that could change at any time as you all know So again, it's just an opportunity to message to everybody To drive carefully don't drive impaired pay attention where your seat belt And give somebody a break, especially if you see our plow trucks out there Give them a break so they can get the work done so you can get where you need to go for the holidays safely So thank you for that Carly, I think we heard some audio come through. We'll try again Okay, great. Can you hear me now? We can A question for governor scott. So like general rice said earlier back in august famous that there were around 260 households who needed direct housing assistance now it's down to under 20 I think it gives the public an impression that people impacted by the july flooding are taken care of but We know there are still families bunking up in tight quarters together staying in very temporary situations with family or friends after losing their homes or Now, you know some of them have experienced flooding again this week What is your overall assessment of how much for monitors have recovered since the flooding in july? Yeah, I I still believe we have a long ways to go and I think some of those situations you described Are more frequent than maybe we realize Staying with family and friends Is not a solution a long-term permanent solution So we want to make sure that they reach out to us Because as general royce said FEMA can still support them in trying to find at least temporary housing throughout the the first 18 months of the declaration But we also want to It reinforces the fact that we need more housing in vermont You'll hear more about that in In the coming weeks. It'll be a focus of mine as it has been over the last seven years But we need to to really Put that on steroids And and for lack of a better term because there's no doubt. We need more units. We need thousands of units in it right now and At the pace we're going at this at this moment It's not going to fill the need and those folks that are in those temporary situations are going to need permanent housing After after they wear out their welcome with their friends and family Okay, thank you My maker told appropriations yesterday That she sees a softening in the administration on safe injection sites Any softening on on your stance? Yeah, I will speak for the administration. There's no softening from my standpoint So that bill that is being introduced on on day one about that pilot program If you've heard they're going to be introducing a bill allowed for up to two safe injection sites You would you're still opposed to that and it would be there's more to the bill as I understand it I haven't read the bill just to be fair. And this is not passed Out of committee at this point. I know that they're Contributing this on the first day of the session to pass it out of committee And then I don't know if it goes to another committee or goes to the floor at that point in the house representatives But there is a process a step process In the future having said that there's more to the bill From my understanding the decolonialization of of drugs Throughout the heroin and other substances That are part of that bill. So there's more to just the safe injection sites To this that I'm I'm concerned with. Thank you all very much. Have a great Christmas