WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today announced the delivery of more than $12 million in new federal funding, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to help fund repairs to infrastructure from the 2023 and 2024 floods.  

Infrastructure repair and replacement projects in the towns of Roxbury, Hinesburg, Fayston, Brookfield, and Plainfield will benefit. This funding will also support the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s work to rebuild the Green Mountain Railroad. 

“We promised Vermont communities they wouldn’t be left behind following the 2023 and 2024 floods. I’m pleased to announce this new federal funding from FEMA, which will support infrastructure repairs and recovery efforts across our state,” said Senator Welch. “I’m not giving up in the fight to help communities, families and farmers recover from the floods—our work continues.” 

“Many Vermont businesses rely on rail to ship their products to market. It is critical that railroads impacted by flood damage are repaired quickly to ensure the state’s exports flow uninterrupted,” said Vermont Secretary of Transportation Joe Flynn.  

This federal funding announcement includes: 

• $10,862,226 for the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s (VTrans) efforts to repair the Green Mountain Railroad; 
• $424,944 for the Town of Roxbury to fund road base, surface, and embankment repair or replacement as a result of the 2023 floods; 
• $347,698 for the Town of Hinesburg to fund bridge repair following the 2024 floods; 
• $336,389 for the Town of Fayston to fund road surface and culvert repair following the 2024 floods; 
• $298,616 for the Town of Brookfield to replace a culvert following the 2023 floods; and 
• $171,359 for the Town of Plainfield to fund surface repair or replacement following the 2024 floods

Senator Welch has advocated for disaster aid funding throughout Vermont’s catastrophic back-to-back flooding in July 2023 and July 2024. On the anniversaries of Vermont’s brutal floods, Senator Welch introduced the Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act, which would cut red tape and support hazard mitigation efforts, make the delivery of disaster aid more efficient and effective, provide technical assistance to small towns and communities impacted by natural disasters, and block the White House from withholding funding for disaster response. The bill was inspired and shaped by the disaster recovery experience of communities across Vermont.   

The Senator also introduced the Rural Recovery Act, which would create a new program at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) to provide RD state offices with automatic funding for emergency recovery technical assistance after disasters take place in their jurisdiction.  

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