Peter Welch: “exactly 2 years ago today, Vermont was struck with devastating floods. Those floods occurred not only a year ago today…”

“exactly 2 years ago today, Vermont was struck with devastating floods. Those floods occurred not only a year ago today, but 2 years ago today. We had back-to-back floods in 2023 and 2024, doing about a billion dollars' worth of damage. And by the end of last year, every county in Vermont, all 14 counties, were hit by flooding. That billion dollars in damages affected homes; it affected businesses; it affected farms. We had 6,000 tons of debris that was removed, 77 State bridges and 63 State roads were closed; 704 miles of rail was closed, and 159 miles of rail trail was closed. We are far from alone in Vermont in having suffered enormous damage from wild weather events. This type of wild weather event can hit any one of our States at any time of its own choosing. And all of our States have been affected at one time or another. Now, I want to talk about FEMA. Our experience in Vermont with FEMA is that it is absolutely essential and actually quite helpful in the immediate aftermath of the weather event.”