MONTPELIER, Vermont (AP) — A year after a catastrophic flood inundated parts of Vermont, Lisa Edson Neveu and her two teenage sons are still living in their flood-ravaged home, despite the unrepaired damage that festers like an open wound: ripped-out walls and floors, a missing ceiling in one room and a downstairs bathroom that no longer exists. The family’s kitchen was destroyed, so they prepare meals on an outdoor grill, electric griddle or air fryer.
“The flooding was terrible. The water was high. It was rushing down the back hill. It was dark, it was storming. All of that was terrible, but that’s not the part that was really traumatic,” said Neveu, 52. “Everyone was great in that part, neighbors helping neighbors, the community helping each other. The National Guard was incredible. What was traumatic and what I just can’t describe is how terrible the last year has been.”
Since the flooding last July that left the capital city of Montpelier waist-deep in water, “a battle has been going on with the insurance companies, the adjusters, the city, the state, FEMA and the federal government, and nothing is the same,” Neveu said.
A year later, the family is still in limbo while the city decides which houses it can raise – above flood risk – or buy with the funds approved by Parliament. But Neveu and her neighbor doubt the city will have enough money to do all the work and say there is no solid plan a year after the flood.
They are not alone. Numerous Vermonters in Montpelier, nearby Barre and elsewhere in the state are still reeling from the effects of the flooding and waiting to see if their homes will be raised or if FEMA will buy them out. That process could take years.
In May, Vermont became the first state to pass a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a portion of the damage caused by extreme weather events resulting from climate change. Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the law to go into effect without his signature, saying he was very concerned about the costs and the impact the petite state would face alone in what would likely be a grueling legal battle against Big Oil. But he acknowledged that he understood that something needed to be done to combat the effects of climate change.
Montpelier Mayor Jack McCullough said the floods were still leaving their mark on the petite town.
“For some of the people here, it’s not over yet,” he said. About a dozen houses were badly damaged.
But the city has recovered in many ways, he added. Most downtown buildings and businesses are back open and most flood victims are back in their homes, he said.
“We are making progress, but it will take more time,” he said.
Mike Miller, the city’s planning director, said Neveu’s house is at the top of the list of buildings to be elevated and if the city does an elevation this year, it will be her house, barring unforeseen engineering problems. Most cases will likely be next year, he said.
“Our goal is to save as many housing units as possible,” he said by email.
More than 3,160 homes statewide are damaged enough to require repair assistance from FEMA, according to Douglas Farnham, the state’s top emergency management official. Cities are still assessing the number of severely damaged homes, but so far 200 homeowners are interested in buying, he said by email.
One of them is 70-year-old Ed Haggett, who lived next door to Neveu.
“I lived here for 47 years,” he said. “This was my retirement. I was a single parent and raised my daughter. I put everything into it, paid it off and thought I was taken care of, but I wasn’t. I lost everything.”
For a year, Haggett has been living with his daughter, grandchildren and their partners – seven adults – while he awaits a decision on whether Montpelier or FEMA will buy his badly damaged home. Unable to afford the cost of repairs, he plans to take out a loan from the Small Business Administration to build an addition to his daughter’s house. But he said the organization denied his application in January by seven weeks, delaying the process.
Haggett’s building insurance only paid part of the damage, he said. He has been sleeping in his daughter’s study for a year. The bureaucratic delays and uncertainty are taking a toll on people’s health, he said.
“It’s extremely, extremely, extremely frustrating,” Haggett said.
McCullough said the city hopes to have enough money to rehabilitate or buy out the homes of those worst affected, but it’s unclear when that will happen.
In the nearby town of Barre, about 350 residential and commercial homes were damaged by flooding last July, according to Town Manager Nicolas Storellicastro. Sixty-two applications — both residential and commercial — have been submitted for purchase, and 10 homes have been selected for additions, Storellicastro said.
Further down in Berlin, flooding in July last year destroyed the mobile home where Sara Morris lived with her husband, three children and his mother. Last year they lived with her mother and husband and brother – nine people in a three-bedroom house.
“There’s no room. We’re on each other’s heels,” she said. “It gets to the point where we attack each other. We rage at each other, we argue a little more.”
She sends her children to therapy because of the hardships the family has been through.
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve lost my kids a little bit, just because of everything we’ve been through,” she said.
Last month they were finally able to purchase another mobile home and about 3 acres of land in Middlesex. The home will be delivered in delayed August and they expect it to be ready for occupancy in mid-September.
“I really wanted to make something better out of what we went through,” Morris said. “And I was determined.”
Neveu lives in a flood zone and had flood insurance, but it only paid out half, she said. The house was not damaged by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, and she never expected the water to reach the ground floor last year.
While the house is currently in a run-down state, she and her boys have hung party lights on the walls, mounted a flat-screen TV, and hung artwork and a beloved chime clock. They often spend evenings with friends on the enormous porch, enjoying the view of the wide Winooski River across the street.
The family is excited to see downtown Montpelier being rebuilt and businesses reopening, but it also leaves them feeling left behind, she says.
“It’s so bizarrely alienating because we haven’t been able to move forward at all,” Neveu said. “We’re happy for any positive movement, but it’s really crazy that a whole year later there isn’t even a plan. And it’s not because we haven’t tried.”
