Vermont emergency management director briefs Senate committee on staffing, mitigation funding and shelter readiness

Eric Forand, director of Vermont Emergency Management and Homeland Security, told the Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations on Jan. 21 that mitigation demands and changing risks have stretched the agency and prompted requests for more staff and capital funding.

Forand said the agency has seen a sharp rise in mitigation applications: “between Irene and 2023, roughly 10 years, we had about 200 ... applications, and we've had 290 in the last one year,” and that mitigation funding has grown from “about $25,000,000” in an earlier period to “about $80,000,000” available now. He described buying out flood-prone properties, elevating homes and other measures as the agency’s principal mitigation work.

The committee was told why the state needs both more staff and a more resilient State Emergency Operations Center. Forand said the State Emergency Operations Center (SCOC) remained in near-continuous operation after the July floods and was evacuated during large events; the agency has been using an alternate…