The front door to the Inn by the River, located in rural Vermont's Northeast Kingdom town of Hardwick, leads to nowhere.
In typical times, the picturesque establishment is perched on the banks of the Lamoille River. Business at the inn had been good in recent days, locals told VTDigger on July 17. Hardwick, home to some 1,000 residents, has felt a dip economically, but a full parking lot at the inn most nights was a hopeful sign.
That was until the raging river swallowed half of the building during recent catastrophic floods, which decimated homes, businesses and vital infrastructure in nearly every corner of the Green Mountain state.
For inn owners Perry and Freda Hollyer, the ground literally fell out from underneath them.
Instead of a lobby, the front door opens to a steep cliff, dropping suddenly into the still fast-moving river. Pieces of the building are strewn along the riverbank, while inside, a flatscreen TV clings to a wood paneled wall at a 45-degree angle.
On July 17, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg stood on the newly carved cliff, hands on his hips as he surveyed the inn's destruction. The former-presidential hopeful and current member of President Biden's cabinet, traveled from Washington, D.C., to see the damage wrought by relentless rains.
"It's heartbreaking to talk to the owners of that inn who describe what they had put into building the business," Buttigieg said at a crowded press conference later in the day. "It's not just a business, but part of the economic recovery of that region around Hardwick."
Buttigieg was joined by Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) Shailen Bhatt as well as officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Vermont Gov. Phil Scott; U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., and several state legislators. A staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., represented the senior senator while he met with Biden at the White House to discuss the federal response to the floods, among other issues.
Biden signed off on a major disaster declaration for the state, unlocking vast federal resources to aid Vermont in its recovery. Key to Buttigieg's department, Biden's declaration freed federal dollars to rebuild vital infrastructure in all 14 Vermont counties. For qualifying projects, the feds will foot 75 percent or more of the bill, and the state will pick up the rest, VTDigger noted.
At the press conference, held at a Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) outpost an hour south in Berlin, Buttigieg harkened back to Tropical Storm Irene, which similarly wreaked havoc on Vermont in 2011.
"It's important to note that Vermont has endured two storms that would be called ‘once-in-a-century events' in the span of just 12 years," he said before an audience packed with press, emergency responders, and onlookers. "I recall from my time as mayor of South Bend [Indiana] what it was like when we had two events come within two years that should have been once every few hundred years."
After Irene, VTDigger reported, the FHWA provided the Green Mountain State with more than $180 million in emergency relief funds to repair vital infrastructure lost to the tropical storm.
"We're going to do whatever we can this time, as well," Buttigieg assured the crowd.
Bhatt Promises to Guide Vermonters Through Aid Process
As he heads back to Washington, the U.S. transportation secretary said he will recall the vivid images of destruction he saw on his drive through northern and central Vermont, including "that hotel in Hardwick that was cut in half and carried down the river," the "brand spanking new" bridge on the newly completed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail "torn in half by the power of those flood waters," and "the railroad tracks coming out of Barre, where the track is still there but the ties under it are not — you know a train's not going to be able to run over that."
Looking at these scenes, Buttigieg said, "You see just how urgent it is to make sure these communities get the help that they need."
But he noted that he saw signs of promise, too.
Buttigieg commended Vermont's local and state response to the natural disaster thus far and said that cooperation "makes it possible for us to be a good partner at the federal level."
As federal transportation officials prepare to allocate resources to help local Vermont communities rebuild their infrastructure, he told reporters that socioeconomic equity is a priority for the Biden administration. And with so many small municipalities having limited — if any — professional staff, he recognized that navigating the federal aid process can be daunting.
"It's very important to us to be user-friendly for smaller communities," he explained. "I happened to be the mayor of a relatively small city — in the grand scheme of things — knocking on the door of the U.S. [Department of Transportation], and I know what that can be like."
Bhatt, the federal highway administrator, pledged that his staff will work closely with VTrans "to find out where those folks are." He pointed to local technical assistance programs made available to municipal governments to guide them through the process.
"Our message is to communities big and small: The federal government is here to help provide resources that are needed," he said.
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