 Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for being here and tuning in. Today we'll have a situational update from Commissioner Morrison and General Roy from FEMA. There are a couple things I want to emphasize this morning. First of all, if you were impacted by flooding, get your debris to the right-of-ways. If you weren't impacted and want to help, find a neighbor who needs help with their debris and get it to the edge of the street or road. Municipalities need to get this cleaned up as soon as possible so we can get the transition to recovery and more on that in a few minutes. Second, I know it's difficult for many who are dealing with flooded homes to think about anything other than taking care of your families and your own dilemma, but it's really important, especially if you're in a county that hasn't been designated yet, to report your damage to 2-1-1. If there's one takeaway from the presser, it should be to report your damage. If your house, basement, or garage flooded, if you have any damage to your home or property as a result of these storms, then that includes driveways, equipment, and vehicles. It's pretty broad. Please report it to 2-1-1. You may not think you need the help, but by reporting your damage, you're helping your neighbors because I know what you're thinking. I don't want to take money away from those who need it. I've heard that a lot from Vermonters over the last week, but in order for a county to receive an individual assistance designation, they need to meet a certain threshold. This will help FEMA make its determinations about eligibility for everyone in the county. And we actually have some good news on this front, and General Roy will update us on that in just a moment. But we still need folks to please call 2-1-1 to report your damage. That doesn't commit you to anything. Next, we're also going to discuss support for our businesses. Many Vermonters impacted by flooding are eligible for individual assistance through FEMA, which we just talked about. But as you've heard, businesses are not eligible for individual assistance. They're only able to get loans from the SVA. For many, this isn't enough. And for some, it's not a viable option to take on more debt or they need financial help to open their doors immediately. Right now, there are businesses that are making tough choices about how to pay for repairs so they can bring their employees back to work and take care of their customers. And some are wondering whether it's worth reopening at all. So these are businesses that provide jobs, jobs, groceries, building supplies, prescriptions, and other goods and services that are critical to serve Vermonters and fully recover. So we've got to do something to help. I've instructed my team to get creative on how the state, with its limited resources, can work to fill gaps and prevent closures, job losses, and other outcomes that would be detrimental to our economy. While we're still developing some of these initiatives, Secretary Curley, Treasurer Pichek, and Commissioner Bolio will discuss the first steps we're talking about to help provide direct financial assistance to businesses who are impacted. Now, I want to be clear. We know this won't be enough. We'll need Congress to come through to give a bigger lifeline to our impacted employers. And while I know our congressional delegation is working on behalf of Vermont, to do just that, we need to take these steps. Next, thousands of Vermonters continue to step up to volunteer and offer a helping hand. We need to keep the momentum going. So we're giving all state employees the ability to volunteer for eight hours with supervisor approval to lend a helping hand. I know many have also wondered about a revival of the Vermont Strong license plates. We will be bringing them back with a slightly new design, and that will also raise funds for flood relief and recovery efforts. We'll have more on that in the next few days. So with that, I'll turn it over to Commissioner Morrison. Thank you, Governor, and good morning, everyone. I will provide some updates on emergency operations as well as debris removal, guidance on debris removal, and volunteering. And mostly, I will be discussing the importance of using 211. So regarding preparation for the current rain event, Swiftwater assets are staged throughout the state to respond to any emergencies. In today's weather, the main threat is localized flash flooding where multiple lines of heavy rain showers and or thunderstorms can move through the same area repeatedly and are the same areas that have received a lot of rain. We already saw a band go through, but be clear there are more storms coming. Between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., we expect to see severe storms that may include high winds, dangerous lightning, and 2 to 3 inches of local rainfall. Please take good care and let's get through this last band of severe weather. A quick word about volunteering and donations. There are many communities in need of support. The best type of donation that you can make is a financial donation or by volunteering your time and talents. Please sign up at vermont.gov forward slash volunteer if you can help. As far as donations go, cash is king. Please donate to a reputable charitable organization. If you'd like to donate food, please do so by working with a local food pantry. Donations of clothing and other items should be coordinated with a local charity. All of this information about volunteer coordination and the upcoming words I'll have to say about debris management are available at vermont.gov forward slash debris. I will echo just briefly what the governor said about getting your debris to the right of way as soon as possible within 10 feet of the right of way. The hauling away period does not last terribly long. Town emergency management directors should contact the State Emergency Operations Center if your town needs direction on how to accomplish this. I'd like to talk a little bit about 2-1-1, and then we're going to have a short show and tell. As we shifted from emergency operations to initial recovery work, 2-1-1 showed a backlog of voice messages and incidents entered via the electronic form. We responded in two ways. First, by adding additional resources for callbacks to those who had left messages. This surge in personnel was thanks to AmeriCorps VISTA workers who were organized by CERV Vermont. Second, the team at the Agency of Digital Services established mechanisms to swiftly access all of the reports to 2-1-1 made online. Additionally, we adopted new technology in the form of crisiscleanup.org used by voluntary organizations active in disaster, more commonly known as VOTA, to connect those who have indicated they sustained damage and need assistance to volunteer organizations and municipally-based volunteer efforts to assist them. Yesterday, we loaded a batch of 2-1-1 reports, over 1,100 of them, into the crisis cleanup platform. We continued to ask volunteer organizations and municipalities to use crisiscleanup to match reported needs for cleanup assistance. Also, as of yesterday, approximately 500 business damage reports that were entered into 2-1-1 were relayed to the Department of Economic Development. They will be hosting a call with affected businesses, the SBA, FEMA, and the USDA at 4 o'clock today. To sign up for that webinar and to see other business recovery information, you can visit accd.vermont.gov. If you have not reported your residential or business damage to 2-1-1, or if you are in need of help with cleanup, we strongly recommend you to visit vermont211.org online to file a report. If you cannot get online, consider asking a friend or family member to help you do so. If you have filed a 2-1-1 report already and you provided a phone number, you will receive a text message asking whether or not you still need assistance, and it will have a link to add additional information so that you can report your needs in the crisis cleanup platform. This is part of the new capabilities related to your 2-1-1 report. Please remember that this text will not ask for financial or personal information. The most important message that the media and elected officials can share today is that making a report to 2-1-1 to document damage to residences or businesses is the best way that we can help vermont move forward. We need to report all damage, as the governor said. It's residences, driveways, yards, vehicles, everything that this flooding damage has accounted for. The data and information we collect here will help us secure federal recovery resources that will propel us into building things back better than ever. We strongly encourage you to make these reports online at Vermont211.org. If you choose to call 2-1-1, please understand that you may need to leave a message. You will receive a call back. We'd like to show you how easy it is to file a report on Vermont211.org. Okay, thanks John for going to the website. On the home page you will select a resident form. You can see that there is a separate form for businesses. Up top, as you scroll down, up top there will be fields to enter when the damage occurred. And of course, the next few fields will be about who the reporting party is and where the damage is located. The form will ask how many people are in your household and their age range and whether you or anyone in your household has health or mobility issues. Most of these fields on this form are drop-down menus or check boxes. Then there are 21 questions about the nature of the damage to your home, including whether it's your primary residence or one you rent. You may not know the answers to some of the questions, but that's okay. There is an unknown option. There are a couple of questions about whether the reporting party has insurance. And lastly, there is an opportunity for the reporting party to request volunteer assistance for unmet needs. If your needs do not appear on the drop-down menu, please use the box to explain what you need. Completing the form for the first time should take as little as 10 minutes. You will receive a link to your form after you submit it that allows you to go back in and add additional information or photos. Thank you, John. I will now turn things over to our federal coordinating officer, Will Roy. Thank you, Commissioner. I appreciate that. On July 4th, President Biden approved a disaster declaration for six counties for individual assistance and emergency protective measures for the state of Vermont. The President added 100% funding for emergency protective measures to the state for a 30-day period at the state's choosing within 120 days. Federal funds are available for affected individuals in Chittenden, LaMoyle, Rutland, Washington, Wyndham, and Windsor counties. As the Governor said, we got good news today that the President approved two additional counties, Caledonia and Orange. FEMA continues to work with Vermont to assess the damages in the other impacted counties. For those who are applied for assistance from Caledonia and Orange counties, your applications will go forward automatically. If your address is not in a declared county, you can still apply online. Your application will be processed if your county is added at a later date. Residents should document their damage and contact their insurance agents as they begin cleanup efforts. Residents should also report damage to the state by dialing 2-1-1 or visiting Vermont, 2-1-1.org. FEMA is establishing disaster recovery resource centers, whereas survivors can go to sign up for assistance to seek questions about their applications or sign up for FEMA assistance. We're opening up two disaster resource centers, starting with a soft opening today and tomorrow. One is in Rutland at Asa Bluma Building, 88 Merchant Road in Rutland, and the second one is tomorrow at the Armory & Waterbury, 294 Armory Drive, Waterbury. The deadline to apply for assistance is September 12, 2023, for the six original counties and 60 days from today for Orange and Caledonia counties. To apply for assistance, visit disasterassistance.gov or you can download the FEMA app at the Apple Store or Google Play, or you can call FEMA's helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA. Say again, 1-800-621-FEMA. They are open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. They also have caption, telephone, service, and other ability to talk with those who don't speak English as a primary language. Disaster survivor assistance teams will go out to the communities, visit homes, and businesses. We're preparing for the potential, so because of the new addition, those teams are already moving forward into Caledonia and Orange counties. Today, FEMA has approved over $1.5 million in assistance. We have dispersed, as of today, $1.1 million to those for individual assistance. And we've received 1971 registrations requests. We have six mobile registration intake centers throughout the state. We're supporting the state's two multi-agency resource centers, and we have our disaster survivor assistance in 12 of the Vermont communities. FEMA is not working alone with the federal government. We also have partners in the Small Business Administration who are both in our disaster recovery centers. They also have their business recovery centers, and Small Business Administration has already received 118 applications for their low-interest loans for the businesses. USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service is also part of our team. And lastly, Environmental Protection and Army Corps of Engineers are assisting with assessments for both wastewater treatment plants as well as hazardous waste. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And I'll be followed by Secretary Curley. Ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. Our team at the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, ACCD, has been working hand-in-hand with local economic development officials, the Small Business Administration and FEMA, to understand, share, and communicate the federal programs available to assist our businesses in their recovery efforts. We'll continue to do this in the days, weeks, and months ahead and communicate the latest from the federal level as we hear more. But the Governor mentioned our business community is struggling to come back online following this flood and to date there are few options for financial support to reopen outside of what is available through federal disaster loans through the SBA. We have heard the business community loud and clear in order to reopen, they need more help than a loan can provide. Business owners are tired, they are nervous, and they are looking for more support than these disaster loans can provide. And I want to say it again, we hear you, we see you, and we are working to bring you support and help. Our team has been working behind the scenes since the flooding began working across state agencies to find a way to bring state-level relief in the form of grants. Today, we're pleased to announce that we are working to stand up a business assistance grant program. The Business Restart Gap Assistance Program will be administered by the Department of Economic Development and will provide $20 million directly to impacted businesses and not-for-profits who suffered physical damage due to the severe flooding in the form of grants. The program is still under development and program specifics will be released next week. Business owners can expect grants to support demonstrated losses to their physical space and replacements of inventory, machinery, equipment, and supplies. This program is intended to provide emergency gap funding to businesses so they can return to being the economic engines of their local communities. We understand the pressing need for financial support and while this funding will not make them whole, we hope it will make a swift impact in helping them bring back their employees and reopening their doors. As I speak, our dedicated team tasked with swiftly implementing this program is working tirelessly on the details and we're committed to making this process as efficient and transparent as possible in the days ahead. Again, we do not yet have all the details in place but we wanted to make this announcement today so that businesses know that help is on the way from the state. We'll update businesses on program specifics, eligibility, and the grant application opening date next week. At this time, businesses are encouraged to collect, document, and prepare photographs of damage, insurance adjuster damage assessments, estimates for repairs, and or actual paid expenses. We understand that recovery from such a catastrophic event requires a collective effort. The arrival of this state funding does not mean people should stop donating to the many private fundraisers that have popped up. These are important private funds intended to support businesses as well. And just like our community members, local organizations, and neighboring businesses, we've come together to support one another and extend a helping hand wherever possible. We're working with the Treasurer to ensure additional tools will be available as additional gaps present themselves, again, in the days and weeks ahead. At this point, I'll turn it over to Treasurer Peechak to talk about what his office is doing to help bridge some of those gaps. Treasurer. Thanks, Lindsay. Thank you very much, Lindsay, and I first want to just thank the governor and his team for their leadership during this crisis. I know firsthand that this is a team that can step up and get it done during the crisis, and as a Vermonter, I just appreciate your hard work and what you've done to respond and what you will do to respond in the coming weeks and months. I also want to thank our Treasurer's office staff, who we also were impacted in our office and had to work remotely and shift to a backup site, but we continue to make sure people continue to get paid in the state. The retirees got their pension payments, that things continue to operate smoothly and efficiently, so I want to thank our Treasurer's staff as well. First, I want to announce that our Treasurer's office plans to advance payments that were due to 40 of the hardest-hit towns in Vermont that would be owed to them in this fiscal year. So that will total about $11 million of quick relief to those municipalities so that they have cash on hand to continue to do their relief work, continue to clean up, and get their communities back on their feet. This money will be important as they wait for FEMA reimbursement. This money will be important to reduce any borrowing costs that might otherwise be incurred if they had to go out to get additional cash to continue their cleanup efforts. So this $11 million to the 40 hardest-hit towns is something that is immediate that can get money to their pocket to continue their relief efforts. Also, as Lindsay had mentioned earlier this year, we had announced an expansion of a local investment program of $85 million that was available for housing and for climate action. Obviously, housing and climate action are critical needs, but the immediate response to the flood is more important at this moment. So we have put a pause on that program while we wait to see what the gaps are that emerge from the business community, from municipalities, from other organizations across Vermont. So we stand ready to help the administration deploy these additional resources if and when they become available. I'd also like to mention that the Vermont banking industry, the Vermont Economic Development Authority, the Vermont Bond Bank, we've been working closely and concert with them. They all stand by ready, willing and able to help as well as gaps potentially emerge in terms of state and federal funding. So with that, I would like to turn it over to Commissioner Bolio. Thank you, Treasurer Pichak, and good morning, everybody. I'm here today to provide additional details about the governor's announcement on Wednesday that extended Vermont tax due dates for those impacted by the flooding. We know that so many Vermonters around the state are dealing with cleaning up their homes and businesses and supporting their communities on the road to recovery, and in these urgent situations, we do not want anxiety about filing taxes to be added to their burdens. As a result, on Wednesday, the governor directed the Vermont Department of Taxes to extend tax deadlines for Vermonters impacted by the flooding. This means that taxpayers who are unable to meet Vermont tax deadlines that fall between July 7th, 2023 and November 15th, 2023 will now have until November 15th, 2023 to file and pay taxes. For some tax types, these extensions will be granted automatically, and affected taxpayers will not need to reach out to the department to request them. Those automatic extensions include tax returns and tax payments that fall between those July 7th and November 15th deadlines and include the following tax types. Corporate and business income taxes, including estimated payments, sales and use tax, meals and rooms tax, and Vermont payroll withholding tax, as well as the associated health care fund contribution. In addition, there is relief for Vermont personal income taxes. For those impacted by the flooding, the department will automatically extend the September 15th, 2023 deadline for personal income tax estimated payments as well as fiduciary income tax estimated payments. And that extension will also be until November 15th, 2023. And for the last automatic extension, the filing due date for tax year 2022, Vermont personal income taxes, the extended due date, for those who have a valid federal or Vermont extension, will automatically be moved from October 16th to November 15th. I would note that these extensions do not apply to the April 18th for paying 2022 Vermont personal income taxes. That April deadline was before the eligibility period for this relief that begins on July 7th. I also want to note that for taxpayers who have other Vermont tax returns or payments coming due between July 7th and November 15th, those returns are also eligible for an extension, though not automatically. And you can request one by contacting the department's Taxpayer Services Division for assistance. Phone numbers for various sections of the Taxpayer Services Division are available at the department's website at tax.vermont.gov forward slash directory. I would also stress that these extensions are for those impacted by the severe flooding around the state. Taxpayers who are not impacted by the flooding are expected to file and pay taxes by their original due dates. In some cases, the department may request proof of hardship before granting an extension. But for those who need the relief, we want to make it easy to get. I will close by encouraging folks who want the latest tax-related information about the flooding to visit our website at tax.vermont.gov forward slash flood, which has a number of resources, including all of the details of the state tax relief that I'm discussing today, as well as a link to IRS guidance for those impacted by the flooding to understand the accommodations being made for federal taxes, as well. We all have to pay our taxes. They are the price we pay for civilized society, and they are what allow us to fund response efforts like these and the swath of government services that we provide to Vermonters. But I also acknowledge that there's a time for those in need to get a little breathing room. And we are hopeful that these extensions will do that and ease a small part of the burden for the folks who are dealing with this terrible situation. I thank the governor for his support of Vermont taxpayers and our department's efforts at this time. I thank you all, and I will now hand it off to Secretary Tevitz. Good morning, Anson Tevitz, or the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. You may recall we had another weather event in May, which impacted a lot of our producers, our farmers, and that was the big freeze that happened in May. And just about a half hour ago, we got a response. The governor had written a USDA and asking for a disaster declaration related to the freeze that occurred in May. And we got a response just before 11 o'clock today on that. And I'll just read a paragraph or two to get a flavor of what the Secretary has decided to do. The United States Department of Agriculture reviewed the loss assessment reports and determined that there were sufficient production losses to warrant a secretarial natural disaster designation. Therefore, I'm designated all 14 counties as primary natural disaster areas. This is related to the freeze. We've also, in a separate one, sent a letter to the Secretary asking to have a USDA declaration related to the flood event, so the data is still being collected on that. And we did get some new figures for you. The last time we were together, I think we had about 7,000 acres that were impacted by the flood. And as they calculate that and as farmers report into USDA with some updated figures on that, we are up to, as of about 11 o'clock this morning, we're up to 9,424 acres of loss in acreage, and that impacts about 200 farmers and producers. So it's very important that farmers continue to report those losses to their farm service agency through USDA. There is a lag in the reporting. There's probably many more farmers that are behind that have already reported but haven't got to this level and the state level. So I always encourage everyone to continue to report their losses through USDA and also place a phone call or, as we mentioned, get on 211 as well so we can get those programs up and running. That is it from the agency that you can see in agriculture. I'll open up to questions. Secretary Curley, I had a couple questions about the $20 million grant program. I just came from the first conference downtown with Montelier business owners who estimate it's going to cost about $20 million for the 100 businesses that have been affected by the flood to recovery. So that's just Montelier. Is the $20 million in your mind to start and more to come? And secondly, is there at this time a tax on what's available for each business? So to your point, we know that this will not make our business owners whole. This is absolutely intended to be emergency bridge funding that will hopefully enable business owners to begin the process of doing the cleanup, doing the repairs that will ultimately get them to bringing employees back and opening their doors. We recognize that $20 million is going to need to be spread far and wide. And that's why as you heard from the treasurer and you've heard from the governor, we need to work with a variety of different people to be really creative to find resources. I'm encouraging people to continue to make specific donations that they're doing. People have been generous. We're going to need all of that. And then some. So again, I recognize what you're saying. I can't promise additional monies. You know, our legislators are, leadership is very supportive of getting help to the business owners as well. But as you know, there's a process and Secretary Clouser can speak more on that, you know, I personally, you know, in my agency I don't have the walking around money to just deploy this. It takes, it's a heavy lift to find that money and we are looking under in every corner, under every cushion to find money to help. Is there a cap initially on the emergency fund? So we are still designing that program so we will share more. There will likely have to be because we want to make sure that we can share this, but we also want to make sure that it's not impactful. But when we have those details, we'll share them. Again, want to make sure that this is efficient, that it's equitable, and that it's transparent. Secretary, similarly, you brought up private phone topic efforts to like go funding and things like that. And is that going to be taken into consideration when you're doling out this money and say that the business already got $50,000 for this money? So again, the we're still trying to design the program and we are looking to really focus on net loss. So we definitely want to take into account if somebody has insurance coverage. So to the extent we can look at other sources of income, but understand we also don't want to delay unnecessarily. So we're still developing more information to come. But we're going again, we're going to work as hard as we can to make sure that it is equitable and can take those considerations in. But more to come next week on this. One thing from the press conference this morning that I actually wasn't there with my colleague, Tomay, was a topic of conversation is that business owners even beyond getting relief now they're thinking if I'm flooded out again in five, ten years like is it worth it? Why bother re-open if I have to go through this again? Is that something that you are thinking of? Yeah, absolutely. We hope that businesses will think about ways that they might do a little mitigation. They can use this grant money how they want to rebuild it. Again, the goal is to get their employees back and open the doors. But if they want to use it for some mitigation efforts that is fine. The SBA loans allow for the disaster loans allow for an additional 20% to be borrowed if folks are willing to use that on resilience and mitigation. So, we are absolutely encouraging people to be thinking about that because to your point I wouldn't want to be having to do this again in a year or five years or ten. What about in the case of if a business owner is renting their storefront and they might not be able to make sure they're able to use it? So, again, we have to hope that they'll work with their landlords on that and they may not. Again, we there's only, you know, so much I can do with, you know, with this program, but as I mentioned, folks can use the money, you know, the way they want to bring their business back online. So, we're hoping that they're working with their landlords. At that same press conference that Sarah was talking about that I was at there was a plea from my player business owners to have the state present them with very solid information about sort of the toxic waste that is now seeping through their community in terms of modern degree, what not. They feel like they need help understanding what to do. Is that something you're preparing to do? So, that is something that under the umbrella of the state emergency operations center would be tasked out to the people with subject matter expertise. That's not something that would live in the public safety wheelhouse, but of course we have representatives from AHS and specifically the Department of Health who we could leverage to present information to the business community. I know that following the 4pm thing around funding for small businesses we could easily tack on additional information sessions for topics that are of mutual interest across the state to small businesses, but to your point, sure, it's a very real thing. You've heard the governor and I talk about how yucky the floodwaters are and the silt that's left behind. So it's a very real concern and we are happy to provide whatever informational resources the business community would like to hear about. Go to flood control. I spoke yesterday with Mark, Ann R and if I understood right, the flood plane is to be used to mitigate flooding. But right now we have whole downtowns and mobile home parks that are in these flood parks and we're planning on building up our residential downtowns. I see that the solution for housing problem, how are we going to get out of this every 10 year flooding of these major housing centers? Some of the flood mitigation measures when you're building new, let's say or you're building in a multi-story building are much different than they used to be when you're building new for instance, you might not put anybody on the first floor you would put people second, third, fourth floor you might put things that could be allow the water to come through on the first floor and those practices are being talked about and incorporated in anything new at this point and that's why it's sometimes so expensive to build now when we talk about the costs of providing housing in some of the downtowns in any area where it could be prone to flooding you have to consider elevation elevators, elevation of the buildings themselves and so forth. So we are well aware of that but I think again with proper engineering you can accomplish both. Those 8 hours is that paid volunteer time? Yes. Also my man on the ground in Barry says that there's no longer that in Barry no place to close Any thoughts about that? Well I know that FEMA actually has something like that that I've heard about but we haven't talked about that need right now but we're certainly willing to consider something to alleviate the concern there. What have you guys heard about schools in the area that have been damaged from the flood? I believe Montpelier High School has flooded what other schools have you guys heard that has dealt with severe damage and I guess just the concern a month or so from now class will be back in session. I don't know the extent of schools. I know there has been damage in some schools throughout the state but I don't have a listing of that at this point. Okay. Secretary Boucher if you have the answer to that that would be helpful. In supervisory districts and most of our independent schools and have since they have experienced major damage as a result of the flood another 12 have experienced minor damage. We're not quite done with collecting all the data but we're pretty confident that it's going to capture the large extent because the vast majority of schools and districts that we've heard from have suffered no damage. We can get more information on the specific schools and what that damage actually looks like after the conference. More of a clarifying question we've heard about reporting damages to 211 but also reporting them directly to FEMA. Do people need to do both or is it one or the other? Thank you. Absolutely due to 211 because that helps the state understand where the damages are and it also helps us where to send our assessors along with the state and locals to take a look at the properties to see what the damages are. So do both please. What about our counties that haven't been added to the declaration yet? Is there any sort of deadline for them to provide perfect damages? No. And we continue to work alongside the state and the locals to assess all the homes and that's why 201 is so important. Because sometimes you just don't know I live in a rural community sometimes you just don't know where it's at so if you report to 201 that allows us to say okay we have to go to this location and take a look at the property and see what the damages are. Thank you very much. I can't speak to the timeline for that. I can tell you that we are constantly working with the state and the locals to find other properties to take a look at to assess the damages and we ask the public and thank you for putting this out if you know a neighbor has had damages ask them if they reported it and if they haven't please help them report it. They may not have internet but help them report it if they can call it in if that information provides critical information we need to assist the state. Could you remind us again what happens to a homeowner who has suffered extensive damage in an undeclared county and let's say that county member gets declared but there are pockets of communities in that county that are doing their work. So I can speak to what FEMA does and I'll start with what we call the sequence of delivery on how FEMA provides assistance but it always starts and ends with volunteers right we know volunteers are the first ones out there that are helping along with first responders but as you go through all the different processes today there is going to be an unmet need and that's where we look to volunteerism to help fill that unmet need so for those who are in undeclared counties if they do have damages they can still go online to FEMA or call in and have their homes listed and have a case number and much like they did in Caledonia as well as in Orange as soon as those are declared it's an automatic process now for those who are in undeclared counties when they do that they're going to get a notification that your application is currently on pause because you're not in declared county but once it gets turned on should it get turned on their applications will go forward automatically and really the first thing that's going to happen is they'll get a call from a home of a housing inspector to take a look at the damages at home and that's where the process starts and again so in brief those in undeclared counties there are a number of other volunteer organizations that they can work with and of course we'll always start with insurance as well so just to be clear if you're a homeowner in an undeclared county in a county that never gets declared and you suffer expensive damage there's no avenue for you to recover from FEMA that is correct sir and thank you for that clarification there's admittedly very anecdotal and some homeowners that they are concerned that if they report damages to their insurance company and then the 201 in FEMA that their insurance premiums are going to hike up after the fact and they don't even know how much money they could qualify for from FEMA and so do you have any sort of message from those folks? Well in order to qualify for assistance from FEMA you have to apply to the insurance company and have that adjudicated whether they pay you or not we need to see that because you have insurance so that has to start to process we have Commissioner Gaffney on right now he might be able to answer some of those questions yes Governor thank you Commissioner Gaffney of Department of Finance and Regulation to that question we did already provide industry guidance on this that this event will not impact any policy holders premiums so they should be encouraged to file the claim with their insurance company because that is part of the process to access FEMA resources in addition to 201 so they should be reaching out to their agent they don't have an agent reach out directly to their company we've been in conversations with the companies as yesterday and reemphasizing all the messages we delivered and the companies are acknowledging and agreeing with the direction we're giving and I'll just say one other thing we're also advising companies to be lenient with policy holders with extended grace periods understanding that they can't access their homes or roads or clothes so in terms of just policy billing and policies being active and not cancelled we've issued through this emergency the request of the industries who show that lenience for our homeowners can you hear me if I'm not on the microphone when you say the department is issuing guidance like does that mean it's mandatory is there any sort of check to make sure that the insurance companies actually follow this guidance are there any repercussions if you don't so I can speak to I was here during Irene and I can speak to we issued similar guidance during Irene and we had a compliance with that we do have a consumer services line that monitors these activities and would get feedback if any consumers are having any issues with their policies cancelling or not renewing or their policies being rated because of this event they should reach out to the department of financial regulation and will assist phones now we'll start with Tim McQuiston from our business magazine Hi Governor thanks for all this one of the questions that came up during Covid for employers was whether to lay off their employees as it turns out the PUA was very important to employers and it kind of caught the employers in between and some of them frankly made mistakes on what they did is there any there hasn't been much yet so far maybe we issued an arranging plan on filing for a UI is there any guidance on whether businesses should lay off their employees now and then wait to see if there's further assistance some have already Tim and there is another program that we're starting up with another acronym but I'll let Commissioner Harrington talk about that thank you Governor and thank you Tim so as the Governor mentioned there is another program with regards to laying off staff if staff are not working they are eligible to be filing for unemployment insurance benefits you know in terms of what is best for the employer I think that's really up for them to decide it doesn't in typical situations such as natural disasters there isn't necessarily additional benefit programs that will likely be coming to your point about the fact that there seem to be new programs being rolled out you know every few weeks during the pandemic so I think in this case you know it's up to the employer to decide what is best for them but they should make that decision knowing what they know now in terms of the programs that are available with regards to unemployment insurance just knowing the population of Vermont's workforce many individuals will be eligible for regular traditional unemployment insurance benefits but those that are not may be eligible for the disaster unemployment assistance program which the department announced yesterday again the DUA program is specific to those counties that have been identified but anyone whose work wages has been impacted should first file for traditional unemployment insurance which they can do through our website they can also do it by calling our unemployment assistance call center but there is an online application for filing and if they do that the department will determine whether or not they fall into the traditional unemployment insurance category or whether they may be eligible for the unemployment assistance program Michael have you seen a spike in the last few days in claims not a huge spike certainly an increase individuals who have been impacted again both in the traditional unemployment space and those that have indicated that their claim is flood related and it's a little bit of a math game because there are a couple of different ways to file for benefits depending on whether you're a new applicant or somebody who already had a claim open in the last 12 months but we have seen a number of claims come through where individuals indicated that their separation from employment was flood related all right thank you very much Head Barber do you importantly express can you hear me yeah my question is more or less county got hit pretty hard is there any update as to when they might start getting a theme of declaration yeah we're waiting to hear about that but again I'll take this opportunity to advocate for those in other counties who haven't been designated to call 211 with their damage declaration to fill out the form report that and that will get us to where we hope to get to which is a declaration for those community members so again I can't stress enough how important this is and it's it it makes the determination whether we get the funding in those counties so it's it's just simply a matter of them filling out the forms and is there any information on how well our wastewater treatment plants have fair during the stormy weather we have had some damage throughout the state I know of at least three who have been impacted and there may be more that I don't know about but Secretary Moore is here and she can give us an update thank you governor as the governor indicated there are three wastewater facilities in the state that have sustained physical damage to their plants and then there are approximately nine additional facilities that have received operational damage meaning high flows entering the plant adversely affected the way the plant is able to operate and treat wastewater that is part of the reason the agency issued a press release earlier today encouraging people to use caution in entering surface waters this weekend so that there continue to be high bacteria levels in a number of rivers and lakes across the state so even as the immediate flood conditions subside as we work hard to bring that infrastructure back online and ensure that robust wastewater treatments being provided we're not quite there yet and encourage Vermonters to exercise caution welcome back from vacation thank you that's all I have Colin Flanders seven days hi yeah do we have any idea perhaps two on one day of how many people have been displaced over the last two weeks do we have any figure that we wouldn't be able to estimate I don't have that information at my fingertips but I can take a note and go directly to you Colin so I will get back to you after this press conference great thank you the only other thing I want to ask is I heard that the Red Cross might be thinking about starting to consolidate some of its shelters perhaps in the very area I was just wondering is that have you been contacted by them about that do we have any idea if some of the shelters are going to start lining down and losing people to a common place so we're not closing shelters and I'll let Secretary Samuelson take the lead on this response some of them have been on standby because there's just nobody there at night but Secretary take it away you're muted Jenny several of the shelters have gone down to no clients left there so there are two shelters that remain open one at Northern Vermont University and one at the Berry Auditorium that means we still have a capacity of over 150 shelter events available with 11 shelters on standby great thank you it's very important again to emphasize they're not closed they're just on standby and we can set them up to operate almost at a moment's notice I know sorry about that but just to go one more on the line we'll come back to you Keith, Rowan Harold hi there's been a lot of talk about getting people to report to 211 and everything do you have any sense are there a lot of people just not doing that for some reason and if so do you have any idea why what the barriers are I think anecdotally we've spoken to a lot of people I've spoken to a lot of people along the path here to recovery and some just feel as though they don't want to do it because they want to make sure there's money available for others who are in worse shape than they are so they say I can take care of this on my own or they think they only think about damage to their home for instance but this actually covers any property it's fairly broad it could be the driveways as well as out structures equipment vehicles and so forth that are parked on the property so I think again it's just the getting the education to know understanding that you should report and that there are many things that qualify and again if you don't need it yourself think about your neighbors because if we don't get enough people and don't meet the threshold then no one gets it Bob's question early about what happens to those who are impacted and don't get relief from FEMA well it's because they didn't meet the federal obligated declaration amount and so we just want you to help us meet that threshold so that everyone who is impacted can get the relief they need thank you we'll probably have time for one or two more Governor I know Secretary Curley had talked a lot about the conference this morning and the businesses and what not but for those that are proclaiming and saying the state isn't doing enough for them how do you respond to their concerns and that message from them well again this was a storm a storm that lasted multiple, multiple days I was involved during Irene and I'd have to say we are doing I can't say enough about all the first responders the number of people who have stepped up to help and it's not just our state employees and our state infrastructure but those from the public and philanthropic organizations and so forth so I think we're doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances can we do better always can do better but again we are in this for the long haul and we are doing our very best to meet the needs of Vermonters we have an interview do we know how many homes that have been damaged do we have an assessment now and also in the mobile home well again that's why we need the 2 on 1 information we don't have a complete inventory of the number of homes that have been damaged and we do have some information just the number of mobile home parks that have been impacted I believe it's 14 but I'm I'm not positive of that I don't know if Commissioner Hanford is on the line he's not but I do have some numbers that he had as of yesterday so as of yesterday morning so it's probably changed significantly since then 2317 homes reported some sort of damage 794 total properties and that includes multifamily rentals, single family and mobile homes but that number has more and more people reported as of yesterday morning and we'll try and get the information I know we have the number of parks somewhere so we can get that to you I just want to ask to clarify if possible the federal disaster that we've talked about is there a number that you're able to share what is that threshold and what do the communities mean? it's a more complicated formula than that it's dependent on population and other factors there's anything to add to that as the governor said is a very complicated factor you have to take it in totality homes damaged and destroyed are a key factor but there's so many other factors like the per capita income for the county other type of damages there so yes there's a lot of factors getting involved with it general mental health I don't know if there's a speaker here on the line that maybe fits that expertise but I think about like parents maybe trying to talk to their young children about like what's been going on the last week or so seeing all the flood damage happening across the state I guess how would you advise just talking to your kids about these natural disasters and what's really going on it's a good point we had Commissioner Hawes on the other day I don't know if she's on now but we can set you up for an interview with her and that can give that information because it's very important as we go through this again it's going to be a long haul and we're going to have to learn how to deal with this as well so thank you for being mobile thank you all very much