 Good morning everyone and thanks for being here and tuning in We continue to pivot to the recovery phase of our response As you know on Monday, I was in Hardwick with Secretary Pete Assessing damage and meeting with Vermonters who have been facing significant losses Yesterday, I was in southern Vermont in Weston and Ludlow doing the very same thing And it's clear We still have a lot of work ahead of us. They've done a tremendous amount in the last few days But there's a lot of work ahead of us But Vermonters continue to inspire me with their resilience and can do attitude There are many resources available to Vermonters as we recover We have a comprehensive list all in one place And that's at vermont.gov slash flood vermont.gov Here today with us. We have a federal coordinating officer will Roy from FEMA and he'll be talking about the work FEMA is doing and the financial help available for communities and individuals But I think it's important to be clear and level set expectations these FEMA funds are not for businesses and I know many businesses are impacted. I've seen it for myself in downtown Barrie, Ludlow, Montpelier and many many other communities throughout the state Now there are small business administration loans available to help and we'll talk more about that in the coming days Or you can go to accd.vermont.gov slash flood We also know more help will be needed and We have a very creative team looking for ways to bridge this gap as we speak And we'll also need help from Congress to make sure Vermont businesses can survive and we're working with our Congressional delegation on that as well But there are a couple things we can do right now So I'm directing the tax commissioner to extend the due date for filing and payment of sales tax Rooms and meals and Vermont payroll withholding tax to November 15th for those impacted by flood And on Friday, we'll be announcing more actions to help Today, we'll also have an update from Commissioner Hawes from the Department of Mental Health to go over tools available to people who are Understandably going through a lot right now and needs some support. I want you to know it's okay To reach out for help and Commissioner Hawes will explain just how to do that On another note, my team is working to break down silos between agencies and departments as well as nonprofits and private entities To ensure we're coordinating and doing as much as we can to help people through this And that work work won't stop once these events begin getting less attention Again, it's a long long road ahead and this will be difficult In it with Vermonters until the very end So I'll turn it over to Mr. Morrison for a situation Good morning, I will provide some updates on rescue and emergency operations as well as guidance on debris removal and volunteering Happily no rescues were made last night We have begun demobilizing out-of-state teams who came to assist and here's a summary of rescue related operations to date 211 people were rescued from homes vehicles trees the top of a car carrier a Floating hot tub wedged on a tree and a floating dumpster These rescues were conducted by boats or by rescuers walking through deep water an Additional an additional 120 70 vacuations were conducted in the first two days of the flooding and 18 animals were transported or rescued from homes and vehicles Our swift water and urban search and rescue assets will remain staged throughout the state to respond to any future emergencies We still have just the one death related to this event I want to remind everyone that many injuries and deaths related to a disaster Happen after the acute emergency and during the cleanup and recovery phase Please exercise caution as you go about cleaning up and drying out our residential and business buildings Household debris has nails sharp edges and other hazards Please remember that our waterways have significant debris in them and unusually strong currents It is not business as usual yet for recreation on or around our rivers streams and lakes In addition to our swift water and urban search and rescue teams the state's division of fire safety and our hazardous materials Teams have been extremely busy In just the past week our hazmat teams have completed 75 responses, which represents 50 percent of our annual call volume Fire safety has had rapid assessment teams in the field which consist of an electrical plumbing and building inspector Together primarily focused on imminent life safety hazards to prevent accidental electrocutions Explosions and to identify structural integrity issues Many structures were evacuated with the power still on our teams have found water halfway up to electrical panels Submerged electrical meters and more These inspections provide critical safety warnings to residents and cleanup crews So far this week we have completed more than 750 of these rapid inspections The division of fire safety has provided numerous informational resources and guidance on safety related to this disaster We have also modified our database to accept no fee permits Previously you had to enter a monetary amount for work notices This change has allowed work notices for emergency repairs to be entered into our database with no fee We anticipate that there will be a high degree of need for all of our emergency response teams for the near future And we remind you that if your home was flooded Please have a qualified electrician inspect your system before you turn the power back on or begin to use electricity We've been fortunate to have national support from companies like amazon who sent truckloads of dehumidifiers and fans to vermont Within hours of arrival these items were distributed by the national guard to the 30 hardest hit towns in vermont I know that there have been more acts of corporate generosity, but they've only allotted me so much time today I've been inspired by many stories from the field of neighbor helping neighbor People helping people and municipalities helping one another For instance, saint albin sent dehumidifiers to waterbury while burlington and south burlington sent public works vehicles and staff to hard hit towns These are just a few examples of the generous spirit of vermont taking place all over the state Right now we need an all hands on deck to help every home and business and farm Impacted by the flooding to get clean and dry Clean and dry is a rallying cry of the day Get the wet carpet sheetrock and such out to the curb or within 10 feet of the public right of way Sorted into the relevant piles for pickup And I have a visual that I have left for the media that is a good description of how to sort the piles of debris Let's make a push to get this done before the end of the weekend We are working hard to connect volunteers and volunteer organizations to residents who need assistance at their homes Community volunteers should continue to register with www.vermont.gov So the team at serve vermont can match you with missions in communities all around the state Once registered you may receive notice of volunteer missions in your area And you can respond with your availability for that particular mission This helps coordinate assets Please be patient connecting volunteers to missions can take some time as communities begin the recovery process This effort is not intended to replace grassroots local volunteer efforts We continue to encourage vermonters to join local efforts as they arise It is often most effective to volunteer with local organizations that you are already affiliated with Anything you can do to help us get clean and dry will be very helpful There are many voluntary organizations Both within vermont and those that operate nationally that are now active in our communities We are asking these organizations not individuals Please do not self deploy The state is recommending the use of crisis cleanup dot org for organizations to manage your missions We have a team taking information from 211 damage reports and contacting individuals who have reported damage To inquire about what assistance they may need The results of those calls will be entered into crisis cleanup dot org We encourage all volunteer organizations operating in vermont To adopt cleanup missions via crisis cleanup to ensure the best coordination of resources Voluntary organizations active in disaster also known as voda is also coordinating activities statewide We encourage municipalities again, not individuals who should use 211 To sign up for crisis cleanup dot org access There you can see details about damaged structures Who has asked for help and which volunteer organizations are active in your area The system will provide details about which missions have already been adopted by one of these organizations and which remain in need Municipalities may also choose to use this app to match municipally based volunteers to request for assistance that remain open in the system All of this information about volunteer coordination and debris management is available at vermont.gov forward slash flood And with that, I will turn it over to fco roy Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. Good morning, uh, federal coordinating officer, william roy I'm not only your your federal coordinating officer. I'm also a fellow resident of vermont So sort of blessed to be here with my fellow vermonters Before I begin some some prepared remarks from fema I would just like to Talk about two days ago when the secretary of translation came up and the governor Took him through northern part of vermont to show him the destruction As we went from town to town the governor talked about each location From personal knowledge Not only the devastation that we're seeing from the storm, but also the impact over years of of lots of opportunities for For revenues and businesses So it was clear to see the governor's focus was on the long view. Not only do we need to recover from the current Problem from the storms, you know the culverts and bridges of the roads The baseball fields The rail trail, but we also Need to focus on the long-term recovery and that's one of the things fema is focusing on as well with the state So we're here for the long haul We uh, each day, uh, we have a a brief to the Governor on on actions and activities And so I'll use this morning's brief the governor if I could just to talk about the things we are doing with the state And I will tell you that we're so drawn to the state that when his Emergency operations center manager briefs him the slides he's briefing are all of the work that fema is doing I mean, we are truly nested with each other on the operations So as of this morning, uh, there are 331 personnel from vermont in vermont from fema As of last evening There are 1980 homes that have been visited by Our disaster survivor assistance those are people that go and knock on doors to ask people What help they need and help them to sign up for fema assistance They've also visited 144 businesses because members from the small business administration Join our folks as they do their walkabouts to offer assistance We're also supporting three multi agency Resource centers that the state has set up and I've been doing this for a while And I've never seen a state lean so far forward and set up centers like this And so we're supporting ones that are in a number of the communities And we're also standing up mobile registration intake centers in waterbury Woodsboro ledlow and springfield Where people can go to sign up for their assistance As far as individual Registration for assistance And to put this in context a context for Irene there were about 4 000 people who signed up for assistance as of Last night there were 1644 people already signed up for assistance 96 of them were from undeclared counties I will discuss that in a moment The nice thing is for those for undeclared counties Should they be declared the process continues automatically they don't have to do a thing As of last night we approved over 700 000 dollars for support for individuals and households For the average of about 6100 dollars per person The way this process starts if you if you at the individual level if you have damaged your home You you call FEMA you you uh go online to sign up for assistance and the first thing it starts is We have a housing inspection And so there have been 991 requests for housing inspection And as of last evening we had already inspected 177 homes Today and yesterday and we'll continue on we're actually out in the field looking for public assistance assessments So those roads those bridges those culverts that that were damaged We're assessing those and working with all the townships on on the process to assess the overall damages To get them declared for that type of assistance And then I also know obviously of great interest we had six declared counties There are a number of other counties that were working with the state to request additional Individual assistance And so I think we are in a good place With with vermont and in leaning forward like no other state. I've walked worked in and so a couple other quick notes I think it was announced already that the president's approved 100 funding for emergency protective measures for a 30 day period And There are unfortunate nature of this business. There are people who will take advantage of it So we have to keep our eye out for scams So we've put out information already If somebody comes to your door, they will have FEMA identification if they do not Don't trust them And so As of as of right now working with a small business administration They have also opened up two business resource centers one here in berlin one in berlin and then one in ledlow And so we are here For the recovery the short term recovery to get people back on their feet And we're here for the long haul. Hopefully sir to help with that rail trail that will bring in economic support to the north Thank you very much, and I'll be so followed by a commissioner haas Thank you Emily haas commissioner for the department of mental health I know many of us are facing challenges left in the wake of the historic flooding that swept through our beautiful state Our homes roadways and businesses both large and small Have sustained damages that will leave a lasting mark on our communities Moreover, there are invisible damages The toll this has taken on our neighbors Whose lives have been abandoned on our brave emergency and essential workers And on volunteers dedicating their time to piecing our communities back together As we come together to rebuild what was damaged and lost I want to emphasize the importance of prioritizing the well-being of our communities This means addressing the crucial impact of natural disasters on our mental health It is not just visible destruction that leaves a lasting impact Its effect on our hearts and minds can linger long after rebuilding has started First and foremost, let's make a conscious effort to seek updates and information from credible resources It is important that we stay in the know but limit our exposure to media that is distressing And that can impact our emotional well-being Instead, let's focus on consuming information from experts Who can guide us reliably through these challenging times Caring for our well-being also includes being attentive to our physical and emotional needs I encourage you to try to maintain a routine that brings you stability amongst the chaos Remember to prioritize self-care by resting Moving and fueling your body with food and water Take time for calming practices like deep breathing Meditation and creativity And weave these practices into your day-to-day throughout all stages of your disaster response effort Not just during the onset of the crisis If you are providing direct services and support to flood relief Remember that resting is not a selfish act Taking breaks help us bring our best selves to the table So we can make a meaningful impact Lean on your teammates for support and develop a buddy system in order to monitor one another's stress workload and safety Keep in mind that communication is key when it comes to well-being and building a resilient community Reach out to your trusted loved ones and friends Share your feelings and emotional challenges And oftentimes the greatest support we can find is in one another Involve those close to you and preparations or planning after the initial conversation Remember that seeking help is an act of self-care and strength If you or someone you know is grappling with intense feelings that seem to linger Consider reaching out to a mental health resource You can call or text 988 to reach the suicide and crisis lifeline Or compassionate crisis care professionals are available to offer support and resources for yourself or a loved one 24 7 Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with our local 988 staff They are fully prepared and ready to answer your calls Additionally the SAMHSA disaster distressed helpline is there for you 24 7 ready to provide support via text or email The department of mental health has also compiled a webpage of resources for folks directly and indirectly impacted by flooding You can view these resources at mental health dot vermont dot gov slash flood We don't have to face obstacles alone And the assistance of professionals adds more tools to our wellness toolbox By embracing these practices and resources We create an environment that thrives on compassion Mutual support and understanding The resilience of our community starts with our commitment to taking care of ourselves And our neighbors We are in this together Thank you Thank you very much and Before I open up to questions. I just wanted to comment as well Will Roy was very helpful to us during the pandemic with in his role at FEMA But he also was retired as a brigadier general And served our country in afghanistan was deployed there To probably many other places as well. So true public servant I'll open up to questions Governor that the 1980 I believe for homes and 144 businesses that those numbers that were mentioned Is that the totality of the damage or are there still homes and businesses we have to visit? I believe that's just a broad number at this point and a dynamic number that is being added to I don't I don't believe we've we've gone and we know the extent Of all the damages. For instance, when I was in Ludlow yesterday, they have a their municipal sewer treatment plant is down But they also identified a crushed pipe under the black river Um The main pipe going into the sewer treatment plant that is not going to be a quick easy fix So those types of things we're finding every day as well as slides and so forth that are still Um, we're vulnerable to because of the saturated soils And uh, some of those could could come down even over the next month or so. So again We don't know the the the total impact, but we're getting closer What's your biggest concern right now as we are Eight or nine days from the event? um Multiple, you know, I I'm still concerned about the weather It seems as though every time we catch a break and we get a Day or two of sunshine and drying out is followed by another rain event We we didn't have the rain in some places Certainly not in this area That uh that we expected, but we had almost two inches down in the The southeast part of the state last night and in some places and they've been hit the hardest and And we don't see that as much here in this area, but um, but certainly Those types of events the flash flooding or the saturated soils that we have just add to Both the day-to-day challenges, but the overall recovery. So again once we can get through and make sure that We're on the road to recovery and dry out some and then we can we can look forward But but again, we have to do both at the same time As you know, if you go to the mocculier area any one of these impacted communities, there's just a A flood of contractors that have come in from out of the state What is the state doing to organize and to take stock of some of those contractors and to vet them to make sure that they are Legitimate event. They're here to Yeah, um, I don't know if you can speak to that I can't speak to that. I'm not off top of my head. I can't you know we um Some of those contractors obviously, uh, aren't Ones that we coordinated. They were coordinated between A business and that that contractor individually or the municipality and uh, and that the contractor We would offer that if you haven't fully vetted Make sure that you go and go to the The attorney general's website and I believe that she has provided information For vetting there and if you have any questions at all, give us a call or give the attorney general a call So we make sure That you don't get yourself into to peril You mentioned right at the beginning of the press conference that he like it is here to help with the individuals in their homes And also for public infrastructure With the situation is different from businesses, uh, neither from a number of businesses in downtown Montoya who are saying Their lifeline is basically a small business administration loan at 4% in 20 years your former business owner, uh That that's a tough factor In your decision whether or not to reopen or not. Yeah, this is uh, this is something I've heard Throughout the state and then some of my visits With the community members, uh, for instance when we were on our tour on Monday We were in hardwick And the motel there that was in the river literally in the river And the owners were there, um that I've seen they've had Some some Change and ownership of that facility for decades. Um, but these folks that came in They were retiring Bought that business. He was uh, and he was a building contractor fix it up himself They lived there And uh, they turned the place around and made it into something that was uh, very special And uh, very essential in some respects to the vitality the economic vitality of the community So at this point in time, I mean we were talking to him and And her about this That um, you know, they're in the 70s now and Do they want to take out another loan? To to put into this A particular piece of property this this venture And have to rebuild and pay that over a long period of time So these are tough tough decisions to make. I'm hopeful Again, we're trying to get creative to trying to provide Breach funding for some of these businesses But but we're going to need some help from congress in this regard or the president This is nothing that we can do on our own. So The congressional delegation is is going to do all they can To provide for relief. But um, but I just want to Just want to level set this so that the expectations aren't too high And um, we'll do all we can but um, but we don't have the resources to make them whole Do you see any role for the Vermont legislature To help provide funding for some of these businesses? Well, again, we'll we need to get through this period of time the response Then in the recovery and we're working on issues Right now and and maybe some relief that we can provide But obviously this is a long Drawn out affair in terms of recovery. So yes Simply answer is some of the ideas That we've had over the past in terms of helping businesses in the state For economic recovery Are going to be ongoing and we're going to be asking for more assistance to help businesses in Vermont because that's the life blood Of our of our state, right? We need the resource and we need the tax revenue in order to survive So if we don't have the economy rolling and we don't have businesses to do that We're we're going to be impacted. So it's in our best interest to help businesses recover from this Any sense of how many acres of farmland have been impacted during the storm? Also, maybe just a sense of how many roads currently I don't know if Need full width, but maybe just how many roads are currently impacted as well I can I don't know if secretary tebbets is on But he might be able to Answer that question if he is on He is not on Okay, and Yeah, I'm sure he has those details. Do you have any information my bill come up and provide? Thank you governor Currently today we have 12 state roads that remain closed 12 state roads that are partially open, which means they would be one lane Three state roads reopened last night And since the beginning of the storm, we've reopened 103 state roads, which is 232 miles I'll just add that today we're working with 56 contractors on AOT projects around the state of Vermont We currently also have Five state bridges, which are closed One completely missing and then a degree of damage to the other four We have conducted 311 Inspections on bridges both state and local across Vermont Having done 43 just yesterday And lastly 64 mile of rail remains closed primarily the green mount railroad between ruttland and bellows falls Thank you I think there was a question about acreage So as of friday, so usda farm service agency is Is the reporting agency? So they're collecting data from farmers that are reporting in As of friday, and we're what are we today? Is this wednesday? 7,000 acres had been reported, but that's as of friday. I'm sure there's much more now And dozens of farmers the damage is Corn still under underwater Do not know if it's going to come back or not and we're talking about debris today. The debris is enormous on many of these Many of these farms. So that's got to be taken care of with Silt, you know all the debris that came down the rivers. So that's where we're at right now Still farmers really need to Report their damages to the fsa so we can get more data so we can get it to washington Also, I just want to follow up on that also kelvin I know we reported on the state infrastructure and state highways and so forth, but For instance, I was in weston yesterday With the road commissioner and the entire select board of three, I believe And we went up one of just one of the roads impacted probably a mile long and complete Devastation like the road is missing Um, so I would venture to say there there are hundreds of miles of of town and municipal roads that have been impacted and Impacted a great deal. So this is going to be a long recovery for them And you know some of the challenges we face before This event are with us today and we talk about workforce And so when you think about all the contractors and all the Projects that we we were going to have to accomplish this summer Now this is you know, this is times three or times four and we simply don't have the workforce to to To do it all in one season. So we're going to have to prioritize And you guys have phones that we can come back to the room He just started. Oh, sorry. So we're talking about farms roads looking at everything from a Broad perspective. I know it's still somewhat early on Is there any type of ballpark number on just the total financial impacts and costs that the storm has had? Or do you think we'll be able to get to maybe some type of number eventually? Yeah, again, I wouldn't venture a guess on that unless someone else wants to No, I I just I I don't know It's a lot of money. That's all I know We'll go to peter romand digger Um Is there a sense uh an estimate for how many people are still currently displaced? We have um, we have the numbers from Um, some of the red cross sites. I don't know if we anyone here has them Yeah Maybe uh, I can ask fema to report on that. Uh, I think there are five red cross sites I think we're at four right now. They're uh, barry ruttland johnson And ludlow total of 62 a number of them though were pre-storm Uh residents of the shelters as well. So not a large number of people But just because the shelters don't have a large number of people Um, you know, I was talking to the governor governor before this press conference, you know In the christmas storm we had a lot of power outages and in my Young daughter ended up in our house With her dog cat and a couple of snakes So i'm sure there's a lot of that going on here in vermont And so I I wouldn't focus on the shelter numbers to focus on the displaced a lot of people living with relatives Thank you sir Yeah, I think that's uh again true when I was in west and yesterday one of our house members Was there to meet as well and she's displaced living at a friend's home, so it's hard to get an exact number but But it isn't As extensive as we had thought it could be but again, I I chalked that up to vermonters being vermonters and helping one another out and opening their doors To those in need Thank you and their question. Are you Do you have a number or estimate for how many municipalities are at this point without running water? I think it's 10 sir I'm sorry. I believe it's 10 this morning sir. I'm going to have you answer On the boil water yes a 10 on the boil water And I think the do not drink Has ended as one now still right? Yes, ma'am. That's a one a one on on a do not drink Thank you 10 under boy watching one under do not drink. Yes. That's that's what the report was um Do you know how many at this point how many people have signed up to volunteer through the state volunteer portal? I do not I don't I can get we can get we can get that information to you Or report it on on friday. Um, that's all thank you so much. Thank you And seven days I just wanted to follow up on that question about the water. Do you know how many municipalities are without running water at all? We don't I I don't believe there are any municipalities without Some functioning water of some sort the quality is in question, but but I don't believe there are any Shut down now. There are treatment plants. I know of at least three That are not functional at this point that that's johnson hardwick and Ludlow I'm on this call from moisefield, which has no water of any sort running And uh, they are kind of wondering What kind of assistance the state can provide the females delivering a bottle of water Okay, I wasn't aware that the municipal system was out Um, do you know are they a fire district or is it the is it the town? It's the town of moisefield a place where um, or are but we're destroyed by a road So do you happen to know if your emergency management director has Submitted that request to the emergency operation center because that's the only way we will know that that is the case I will ask you might know the national guard has talked to him I understood but the national guard is working with us in the emergency operation center and they the request There is a formal structure to request assistance from the state emergency operation center So reporting or chit chatting with the guard and and receiving Deliveries of water is not working the system that has been in place for a long time So we are happy to jump right on that as soon as we get a request from your municipal officials Well, if females delivering a bottle of water, it's really they know that No, that's not true because bottled water is being delivered in many places that don't have clean drinking water That's different than having no water at all So again, if you could we will happily look into it and uh circle back to the appropriate parties if if you would like to Get folks on the municipal level Communicating up. We will certainly be reaching down for you I will let him know to get into the FEMA No, no, no, no with the state emergency operation center And we will be reaching out for you. I'm sure by the end of this conversation There will be somebody dialing up the emergency management director in Marshfield So I had a completely separate question about the National Guard. I understand that there are 75 People deployed and I'm wondering where they're working and what kind of work they're doing I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm Colonel Tracy Poirier the director of the joint staff Could you just repeat the first part of that question? I heard 75, but I didn't hear what that was in reference to I believe there are 75 members of the National Guard deployed in Vermont I'm curious to know what they're doing and where they're working Sure. Um, we actually have just over a hundred now soldiers and airmen Working on some portion of flood response. Some of those are in admin roles. Um, we have them Broken up into several different teams the first ones that came on and I think I reported before So I won't get too much detail was the quick reaction force that we're doing search and rescue That team um has been working very hard and is getting towards a stand down right now They're on um They're on I think a four hour recall right now and when the rains are coming back in over the weekend They'll be on a one hour recall We also have the aviation team, which was very busy last week. They Haven't had any missions yesterday or today. I think that mission is starting to stand down But those folks are always available and ready. We do normal search and rescue all the time with the state with our aviation team The one the team that gets the most work is the distribution team So there's a lot of stuff that has to move around the state and that is something We are very specifically and uniquely trained and equipped to do so that has been One of our largest missions Per like man hour spent I guess is what I'd call it There's a maintenance team attached to that to help them out on the road And then we have the lno team, which is I think what we've already referenced to that team They've been out to essentially 50 towns To date there's another I think we have a list of 132 to get to by the end of the weekend They've had some revisits for some of the hardest hit towns But I think that answer question basically a little over 100 is what's working right now Correct there are some of those 100 are regular full-time workers in the vermont national guard But those that's a fairly small number most of those folks Are part-time national guard soldiers and airmen that have come on orders To meet these missions that the state needs from us Tim McQuiston vermont business magazine before I take tim's question I was informed that we have 5700 signed up for volunteer Work so 5700 To date and climb Hi governor At some point the FEMA and SBA numbers on the direct impact in the storm will be known But what is the uh, the When do you think you'll have an indirect impact number, you know restaurants and hotels That weren't directly impacted aren't getting visitors They're going to be obviously as you've mentioned Tax impacts rooms and meals in particular gas tax All those things and the emergency board is meeting that at some point pretty soon Are the economists working up what might be the total impact on the economy at this point? Well again, um, we had that scheduled meeting with the emergency board for the end of july And that will still happen. We'll have more information at that point Probably trying to to collect all we can For that meeting so we have a rough idea of of the trend But but it's something that's unknown at this point But when you drive through a place like Ludlow You can see that it's going to be a little bit Before they're able to open up some of those businesses or whether it's in or barry or Montpelier for that matter. So it will have an impact. We know that But but then we we have to go to the recovery phase and if there's something that I I learned from Irene going through that After when we entered the recovery phase We had to remind people that not all parts of the state were impacted. In fact, many were spared And so people from out of state not knowing that we're canceling rooms and not coming to Vermont And we certainly once we get through this response and get into recovery We're going to want to send that message that When when that comes to be That they were already willing and able to to welcome Folks from out of state to come and view Vermont and take advantage of everything we have to offer It will there It do you I know that the congressional delegation would be working on this But would it would it take an act of congress to get Economic impact money, you know similar to the ARPA funds and those things. Yes, I believe so. Yes But we're exploring every every, you know uncovering every rock and looking for opportunities So we will continue to do that and There are a lot of creative ideas out there and We'll just run them through and see if um if they make sense for us And I want to follow up on your question. I have a sticky note that got slid to me The scoc has been in communication with marchfield who reported that they were on a boil water notice But we are reaching out again right now to make sure that that is still accurate Tom compass for mine Thanks, jason governor, I don't know if this question is for you or mr. Roy, but With the number of FEMA boots on the ground along with volunteers Um Why is it going to take so long to to increase the number of counties that are being covered besides the six that have so far There's lots of reports of sections of the state where The entire county damage wasn't that bad, but one particular section of it is is pretty well destroyed and They can't yet check a box if the county was not on the list when they go to report online the FEMA Do you have any insight on that? Thank you, sir. Appreciate that First of all the six counties that were declared Were done so via imagery not people walking on the ground To take a look at it in order to meet the governor's, you know desire of an expeditious Declaration by the president And so Once that came out We are now on the ground have completed Have already completed On the ground inspections of the non declared counties to assess the overall damages to see if they meet the the The you know federally mandated requirements for individual assistance And so we're working close to the state because the governor has already asked for it There isn't any additional requests from from him We are working closely with the staff To assess those damages and as each of the the county's information is completed We forward that the FEMA headquarters for assessment to Whether they are capable to add those counties on I you know, we can never say when But I believe in in in a very short period of time. We'll hear about the potential for additional add-on counties And again to re-emphasize, you know because of the ongoing storm We were able to utilize imagery that was available by a number of means to get the six Declared counties for the ones who had not declared as you can imagine here in Vermont with the foliage we have It's really hard to get imagery this time of year. Thank you If I get a follow-up on that what is the criteria? So for instance, you've got a county that 10 or 15 percent has been completely destroyed but the rest of the county is fairly well intact Does that happen where that county? I'll find there for there's no assistance available to anyone in that county So there are a number of factors that we look at on the overall impact The first thing that we really look at is homes. How many homes were Destroyed how many homes were damaged and those that damaged was it a major damage? Was it minor damage or were they affected? And so our teams working with the state and locals You know go to those homes and do their overall assessment And but there's other other a number of other of other factors that you took a take a look at But those tend to be you know, the primary ones that we focus on And so if it does not get declared as one of the counties that's eligible I'm sorry say again So if if that count is so if the county doesn't meet the the requirements for for declaration, you're correct It doesn't get added to it But you know to your point though if there was a small part of the county that impacted very badly And the number of homes damaged Is what we focus on not the totality of the county So if the majority of the county is okay, but you have a really hard hit area That Does not discount the county from from being eligible for assistance for individual assistance. Okay. Thank you I also just want to say Appreciate the level of communication out of all the departments in vermont. It's allowed us to cover the damage versus trying to uncover the mistakes And that's highly appreciated. Thank you Keith, Robin, Harold Tom, I'll set for now. Thank you Back to the room Sir, that's you Roy you mentioned a lot of the statistics that your survivor assistance crews have compiled But just for vermonters that haven't seen crews come to their homes yet Just what can they expect and also those eventual inspections just what goes into those as well Yep, thank you for that question. So for our disaster survivor assistance teams They use the operate in two or three And they'll go to the home. They'll knock on the door And they'll ask them, you know, uh, if they've had any damages if have had damages If they've if they've signed up for for assistance from fema if they have not You know, they can help them. They have an ipad. They can help them sign up They can provide the information if they want to call in and then If you know if there are damages and they sign up Then the first thing that will happen is they'll get a call From a housing inspector to coordinate a time for them to go take a look at the home They'll show up. They'll have they'll be certified. They'll have a badge to say this is who I am And they'll take a look at the damage for the home They'll they'll report that back to the headquarters and then their application will continue I would like to take this moment for just a moment to explain that There are letters that some of the applicants will receive where we're looking for more information The way it is written isn't Is it can be confusing and so but right in the first sentence says read this entire document Usually what there's just something missing that's preventing us from from moving forward providing them the funding whether it's their insurance Form that you know denying other application Or or some other piece of paper. So we encourage people read the entire letter And then contact us and we will help you To be able to to figure out what it is you need to to get the assistance you need We're also standing up Disaster recovery centers where people can physically go and sit down with one of our applicant specialists And they can help them with that process as well And we'll announce those locations as we work with the state to stand those up We have we have mobile registration intake centers We're with Some capability and we so we have one right now close to one here would be in waterbury And so that's what people can go to sign up The governor has been kind enough to offer that armory for us to stand to turn it into a Disaster recovery center so that people can go to get additional assistance there Oh, oh by the way, the the small business administration will also be there with us More against games. I don't know if you'd be the best person to answer this But just has there been any reported any incidents reported yet or you guys just kind of preparing for that We always prepare for that because we know it comes There actually was one report of it Interestingly, it was actually accurate Because one of the things we do when we help people sign up for assistance Again, we have badges. We certify who we are When they sign up if they want an electronic funds transfer for their for their funds versus a check in the mail They obviously have to put their banking information in and so I think there was some misinterpretation That that was a scam But that quite frankly that helped us leap forward to ensure that people knew That there are people out there who would take advantage of the situation on our public Thank you, sir Will FEMA ever reach out via phone or email or if someone says they get a phone call or email claiming to be FEMA That's most likely to scan and let's say unless they apply for assistance. They will not get a phone call They'll get people knocking on their door like we talked about but of course they will be batched Thank you Governor I had a question about mom keelier I've had a number of folks in town that have approached me and have expressed their I guess disappointment maybe that they they perceive that You know FEMA and also the state of emergency management Folks just haven't been on the ground. They say that there's a lack of presence there Do you know if there's plans maybe to bring in more folks or set up a tent to To show that presence Thanks, Calvin for that question There's been a lot of chattering about what the state hasn't been doing what FEMA hasn't been doing And I heard about that chattering yesterday afternoon So I personally went to Montpelier and met with the city manager And he and his deputy and my team are very clear about what the process is to request assistance from the state emergency operations center And they are very comfortable and pleased with the outcomes that they have received and with the Items that we have still yet to deliver to them or or that we've had to you know do some problem solving with them So we are very very much working in concert with the city officials in Montpelier So I don't know who you talk to but there are many other people in the community who Even as I stood there talking to the mayor expressed that they knew better how to handle this emergency than those of us who are Working around the clock to actually address it. So I don't know if that helps you helps you understand the context But we are in person and on the phone speaking directly to officials and the emergency management director Which is the way the system is structured in the city of Montpelier and have a hundred percent visibility two ways I don't know candidly I don't I can't speak because I'm not on the ground doing that type of work I did see an amazing incredible volunteer spirit in action down in Montpelier I also went and visited the berry recovery center up at the auditorium yesterday And I I don't know what local to Volunteer to volunteer organizations communications looks like I'm sure it is different community to community But I can tell you there's great volunteer spirit in every community I've seen and the messaging from the state emergency operations center has not changed since before this flooding began The structure is in place. We have state emergency management plans. There are regional and local emergency management plans We rewrite these plans. We update them. We exercise them with our local partners year round And this was go time And the structure exists and it has to be followed in order for the entire ecosystem to work, right Thank you sure And I'll also add that Montpelier was one of the first places that the state Directed our disaster disaster survivor assistance to go walk in door to door. So they've been there on multiple days as well Just a quick money question. Well, you mentioned there'd been 700 ish thousand dollars that's been paid out individual assistance approved approved approved right That's about 61 $100 a dollar per person Is that the ceiling or do you expect more money to maybe flow? Oh, no, we've we've just started. I mean We just turned the pro so we just turned the program on on friday Because of the declaration And by monday by monday morning people had money in their bank accounts So that's how quickly it turned and we're just starting and as I said for Katrina There were roughly 4 000 people who had had received aid We're already again up to 1600 people who have applied And over 1500 people who are eligible for assistance So it's moving fast and quite frankly it's moving fast because you know Vermont is is leaning forward on this and showing us where to go Working with the local emergency managers and say this is the area that you need to focus on to help with And people people are reading and saying yeah, this is how I sign up for assistance from FEMA And it's all because the state you know is really Leaning forward Thank you We've talked about Assistance for homeowners a lot today But is there any update in terms of for the the house's population vermont resources for them and how they maybe been affected last week Yeah, well again The shelters are open to anyone Whether they were had a home or they're unhoused In any way, so we want to make sure that everyone knows and they're still open to those affected So I don't have a number on that Because we don't segregate the two Our shelters are open to anyone Just one more quick one for commissioner has you mentioned 988 as a resource I don't know if they've already gotten a big influx of calls or if you have that information Yes, I do have that information Let me get to it So the total calls answered from July 1st to July 16th was 378 So breaking that out to the two weeks July 1 through 8 is 193 July 9 through 16 is 185 We anticipate as folks start to digest What has happened? They're more inclined to reach out for support So when we think about Responding to a term, you know a traumatic event You're going to go through ups and downs along the way. Those are going to be Anger sadness sometimes you're going to feel very content Or all of those at the same time. We're all human And so we anticipate as folks start to settle into the recovery And looking at the amount of work and how long it will take to recover from this That those calls start to increase We just celebrated the Year first year of 988 And so when I was meeting with that group up there Yesterday was at northeast kingdom of human services. There's also Northwestern counseling services Those folks are ready to answer the calls like I said earlier from our community members who may need their assistance Did you say 988 was primarily a suicide prevention? It's sure. So it's for both. It's for anybody who's in distress Or a loved one of somebody who's in distress. It doesn't necessarily need to be somebody who's experiencing thoughts of suicide It's anybody who's having a tough time So it's not defined. They they are there to answer that call Okay, um with that I just want to also thank the media once again For now just communicating the information that we have that we need you to To distribute to your listeners and readers But also your feedback when we hear things like The mob player city mob player folks in the in the city Are feeling neglected in some way? We don't know that until we hear it if we hear that that marchfield does not have water Sometimes we don't have all that information. So Having you tell us will at least trigger Another response from us to reach out to them. So we thank you for that and we'll be back on friday For another briefing. Thank you very much