Biden approves additional aid to Vermont after severe storms, flooding

President Biden has approved additional aid to Vermont after a round of severe storms and flooding hit the region. 

In a news release, the White House said Biden made the decision Monday night to send additional disaster relief to Vermont. Biden authorized an increase of federal funding for emergency protective measures undertaken in the state due to the severe weather conditions. 

The latest move comes a week after Biden initially issued an emergency declaration, which enabled federal disaster relief to be sent to the state and helped aid state authorities with assistance on things like evacuation and sheltering. 

Storms dumped up to two months worth of rain in a couple of days in parts of Vermont last week. This surpassed the amount that fall when Tropical Storm Irene hit in 2011 and caused major flooding in the state. 

The flooding, which has caused one death, also caused damage to the state’s agriculture, with Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts saying in a news conference that the storm is expected to destroy “a large share of our produce and livestock feed.”

Tebbetts said it is too soon to determine the costs of the damages. 

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) said he asked the Department of Agriculture to issue a disaster designation for the state due to damage to crops. 

“In our mountainous state, much of our most fertile farmland lies in river valleys, and countless fields of corn, hay, vegetables, fruit, and pasture were swamped and buried,” Scott said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.