{"id":628098,"date":"2025-07-24T16:15:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T20:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/?p=628098"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T20:37:10","slug":"state-officials-plan-to-direct-more-than-60-of-the-federal-disaster-aid-over-41-million-toward-housing-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/07\/24\/state-officials-plan-to-direct-more-than-60-of-the-federal-disaster-aid-over-41-million-toward-housing-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Applications open for nearly $68 million in federal flood recovery funding for Vermont"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Aerial
A view of Barre City on July 12, 2023 after flooding. The Stevens Branch is visible on the right side of the image.\nVermont Agency of Transportation \/ Courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communities impacted by the devastating floods that swept through Vermont in July 2023<\/a> can now apply for a cut of long-term federal disaster aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State officials have opened the application process for nearly $68 million in federal recovery money allocated to the state late last year<\/a>. Officials hope to funnel the majority of the funding toward housing development outside of flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize that housing is a crisis across the whole state, and especially in these flood areas,\u201d said Nate Formalarie, deputy commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, which is administering the federal block grants. \u201cIf future storms are to come, we need to have places to put people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vermont to receive $68M for long-term disaster recovery\u00a0<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Carly Berlin<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A state analysis<\/a> found that Vermont has over $350 million in unmet flood recovery needs tied to the 2023 storm alone, with the bulk of that need stemming from costly damage to public infrastructure like power, wastewater and transportation systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But state officials plan to direct more than 60% of the federal disaster aid \u2014 over $41 million \u2014\u00a0 toward housing development. Smaller portions of the block grant will be set aside for infrastructure projects, flood-mitigation efforts, future planning and program administration, according to a state action plan<\/a> approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why officials opted to channel much of this funding toward housing specifically, Formalarie emphasized the state of Vermont\u2019s extraordinarily tight housing market<\/a> \u2014 and the loss of homes to flood damage and property buyouts<\/a>. The pot of money available to the state pales in the face of the overall need, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n