On Monday, July 10, Route 110 into Chelsea was completely covered by the First Branch of the White River. “It separated my building,” Snook, a Chelsea resident, said. “That’s what woke me up because I sleep upstairs. It tipped right up on end.”Snook and his neighbors have been dealing with the fallout ever since. His neighbor Cindy Mcelhaney’s home flooded six inches on the bottom level.“Everything on the first floor is ruined,” she said. “And the basement is full of like two feet of sand and muck and nasty chemicals.”The Riverbend Care Home, which houses nearly two dozen residents, had to pump water out of their basement last week. The floodwaters ruined medical supplies, rubber gloves and paper products. “This isn’t just our business,” Jennifer Doyle, the owner of Riverbend Care Home, said. “This is the home of 22 people. The real fear came down to not being able to bring them home.”If that’s not bad enough, only six counties in Vermont are designated for the National Emergency Declaration. Orange County is not one of them yet. That means residents are not eligible for federal assistance right now. “Orange County is rural, and it’s smaller in population obviously than adjoining counties that got hard devastation,” David Stephenson, a Chelsea resident, said. “But the devastation here to the people who have been affected is just as real as the people in a different ZIP code.”Many people’s insurance policies will not cover the damage. “I don’t have flood insurance,” Stephenson said. “My house sits way up on a hill. The water that came in came through groundwater. The ground just got saturated. So, the insurance company said they wouldn’t cover it because it was groundwater. If it came in through a window or a roof, they would have covered it.”Officials are urging community members to document and report all damage to 211. Because in order for the county to be declared by FEMA, it has to meet certain damage thresholds.“Part of the criteria for determining if a county gets a disaster declaration is how widespread it is,” Jann Tracey of FEMA said. “So how many people are affected? And then the magnitude of the damage.”Residents voiced their frustration with not being eligible for federal assistance. “It’s detrimental,” McElhaney said. “That ruins any real type of hope for like help to fix anything. There’s nothing in town. We’re a small town. We don’t have much for infrastructure.”Snook agreed.“We should have been declared immediately,” he said. “I know Washington County got hit hard, but so did we. We’re a little town and overlooked. I think a lot of little towns, they’re not worried about.”This assistance could be the difference between the small-town residents staying put or cutting their losses.“We’re trying to figure out if it’s worth it to try and save it and stay here,” McElhaney said. “If this is going to be a normal, or if this is going to happen again.”
On Monday, July 10, Route 110 into Chelsea was completely covered by the First Branch of the White River.
“It separated my building,” Snook, a Chelsea resident, said. “That’s what woke me up because I sleep upstairs. It tipped right up on end.”
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Snook and his neighbors have been dealing with the fallout ever since. His neighbor Cindy Mcelhaney’s home flooded six inches on the bottom level.
“Everything on the first floor is ruined,” she said. “And the basement is full of like two feet of sand and muck and nasty chemicals.”
The Riverbend Care Home, which houses nearly two dozen residents, had to pump water out of their basement last week. The floodwaters ruined medical supplies, rubber gloves and paper products.
“This isn’t just our business,” Jennifer Doyle, the owner of Riverbend Care Home, said. “This is the home of 22 people. The real fear came down to not being able to bring them home.”
If that’s not bad enough, only six counties in Vermont are designated for the National Emergency Declaration. Orange County is not one of them yet. That means residents are not eligible for federal assistance right now.
“Orange County is rural, and it’s smaller in population obviously than adjoining counties that got hard devastation,” David Stephenson, a Chelsea resident, said. “But the devastation here to the people who have been affected is just as real as the people in a different ZIP code.”
Many people’s insurance policies will not cover the damage.
“I don’t have flood insurance,” Stephenson said. “My house sits way up on a hill. The water that came in came through groundwater. The ground just got saturated. So, the insurance company said they wouldn’t cover it because it was groundwater. If it came in through a window or a roof, they would have covered it.”
Officials are urging community members to document and report all damage to 211. Because in order for the county to be declared by FEMA, it has to meet certain damage thresholds.
“Part of the criteria for determining if a county gets a disaster declaration is how widespread it is,” Jann Tracey of FEMA said. “So how many people are affected? And then the magnitude of the damage.”
Residents voiced their frustration with not being eligible for federal assistance.
“It’s detrimental,” McElhaney said. “That ruins any real type of hope for like help to fix anything. There’s nothing in town. We’re a small town. We don’t have much for infrastructure.”
Snook agreed.
“We should have been declared immediately,” he said. “I know Washington County got hit hard, but so did we. We’re a little town and overlooked. I think a lot of little towns, they’re not worried about.”
This assistance could be the difference between the small-town residents staying put or cutting their losses.
“We’re trying to figure out if it’s worth it to try and save it and stay here,” McElhaney said. “If this is going to be a normal, or if this is going to happen again.”
