Nearly a year after flood water rushed through Hardwick, Vermont-area businesses said there has been progress, but there is still much work to be done.
HARDWICK, Vt. — In Caledonia County, Sen. Peter Welch and local officials continue to assess the damage left behind by last summer’s floods.
Nearly a year after flood water rushed through Hardwick, Vermont-area businesses said there has been progress, but there is still much work to be done.
“We lost pretty much everything — about 90% of the inventory was lost,” said Kevin Cournoyer, a sales advisor with Lamoille Valley Ford.
Widespread heavy rainfall hit several cities and towns across the state during the floods in July 2023.
The damage left many Vermonters in need of assistance in repairing their homes and businesses.
“We had to basically take all the sheetrock out and spend the next couple of weeks just rebuilding,” Cournoyer said.
The damage in the town of Hardwick prompted a visit from Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, along with members of Vermont’s congressional delegation.
“My goal is getting eyes on the situation and then engage with FEMA to see if we can break some of the logjams,” Welch said.
During a walking tour Wednesday, Welch discussed the progress of recovery and resiliency efforts in the areas hit hardest during the floods.
Welch also outlined ways he will work to foster bipartisan solutions to better assist communities recovering from natural disasters.
“Natural disasters happen all over the country,” Welch said. “We’ve had these terrible storms in Texas (and) Arkansas. I (have) talked to my colleagues [and] their constituents are facing many of the identical challenges.”
As the state approaches the one-year anniversary of the 2023 flooding, Cournoyer said much of town is on the mend and hoping for drier days this summer.
“There’s a lot of debris still in the rivers and stuff like that. But other than that, businesses, I think, are doing pretty well,” he said.
During the walking tour, Welch said that visits like the one made in Hardwick and Johnson helped move conversations forward with federal partners who are working to address ongoing projects for Vermonters still on the road to recovery.
Story Written by Adrian Pastor, NBC5