This commentary is by Michael Gaughan, the executive director of the Vermont Bond Bank, and Katy Hansen, the director of the Rural and Small Cities Program at the Public Finance Initiative.
Vermont municipalities face a stark reality. The federal support that communities have relied on after disasters may be dramatically reduced in future years. The public will soon see the FEMA Review Council report, which is expected to recommend shifting more disaster response costs to states while also raising the dollar threshold for what qualifies as a federal disaster. Vermont is already confronting this reality with the recent denial of the July 2025 disaster declaration and the related on-again off-again funding for core infrastructure resilience programs.
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For a state that has experienced over $240 million in FEMA related municipal damages from flooding in the past three years, the potential reduction in federal support threatens the fiscal and physical structures that undergird our communities. This is a staggering number, representing more than 30% of the Vermont Bond Bank’s current municipal loans, which obscures the threat to individual towns where disaster costs can be overwhelming. Take, for instance, towns such as Lyndon, where an estimated $18 million in damages occurred in 2024, roughly six times the town’s highway budget.
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byShaun Robinson
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But this moment of uncertainty is an opportunity for Vermont to take matters into its own hands. Recently, the Bond Bank was selected to participate in the Public Finance Initiative’s Rural and Small Cities program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to receive capacity building and educational support to develop clear guidance alongside our loan programs for communities to reduce the risks caused by extreme weather to their infrastructure. This builds on the Bond Bank’s decades of experience lending to local government and addressing challenges of infrastructure planning and finance. Our team of experts organized stakeholders from across the state to discuss how to spur action while coordinating resources.
As others have noted and the FEMA report is anticipated to make clear, we must take responsibility ourselves and change practices to save Vermont from the inevitable. Thankfully, regional and statewide partners are making progress in developing the tools and know-how to respond to our collective flood risk.
The convening helped the Bond Bank to highlight the largest potential contributor to post-disaster fiscal stress for our municipalities — our municipal roads. This network connects us to families, jobs, schools, grocery stores and hospitals, and is where more than 80% of municipal flood damage has occurred over the last 20 years.
The Bond Bank’s goal is to use its understanding of public finance best practices and the helpful tools from partners like the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) to drive the development of more capital plans and financial benchmarks that incorporate technical analyses from regional and state partners. Simple at its face, the effort is interdisciplinary and complex in practice. The convening was important to help the Bond Bank develop guidance and spur implementation. The Bond Bank aims to coordinate low-cost financing sources and expand the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund (MCRF) to help communities when disaster strikes. The intent is to turn the recovery cycle on its head: align existing resources to reduce risk before disasters strike and plan for more post-disaster relief.
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The MCRF, established in partnership with the State and Treasurer’s Office, has already demonstrated its value. Since launching after the July 2023 floods, it has provided $33 million in loans at just 1.3% interest to 27 Vermont towns, offering seven-year terms with two years interest-only to give communities breathing room as they await potential federal reimbursement. This isn’t flashy, but the point is its practical value. For example, Lyndon received $4 million in MCRF loans that gave them space to deal with critical, immediate needs and time to sort through what the federal government would support.
With engagement from the partners at the convening, an expanded MCRF program, when combined with the capacity of our Vermont banks, would help address our vulnerable road infrastructure by aligning incentives for communities to plan, design and invest in improvements, and if disaster strikes, ensuring that communities can access resources through loans and adaptation grants to build back in the right way.
This approach demands a shift in thinking. It means partners like the Bond Bank need to do everything we can to reduce costs for borrowers while also giving direction on how to take the first step in the financial trade-offs of implementing resilience projects. While this is hard work, it’s also empowering. Instead of waiting for federal aid that might never come, Vermont communities can reduce risk before disasters strike and build resilience on their own.
The National Weather Service is investigating whether a small tornado touched down in Woodstock in eastern Vermont on Thursday afternoon as intense storms swept through the area, uprooting and snapping trees, and causing structural damage.
A damage survey team is expected to assess the damage on Friday morning to confirm whether any tornadoes touched down during the severe thunderstorms, the Weather Service in Burlington, Vt., said.
The suspected tornado occurred some time between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., according to the NWS. A tight vortex, a marker for rotation, was spotted on radar, although there was no debris signature detected on radar. No tornado warnings were issued at the time.
If a tornado is confirmed to have touched down, the survey team will also determine the size, path, and intensity of the twister.
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Some of the damage left behind by what is believed to have been a tornado that touched down Thursday.Chris Markos
The last tornado to touch down in Vermont was just a couple of months ago. On April 16, 2026, an EF1 touched down in Williamstown, Vt., according to the NWS. An EF1 tornado is the second-lowest rating for twisters, according to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which ranks them based on intensity.
Several supercells had tracked across northern New York into southern and central Vermont, producing large hail and damaging winds, and eventually spawning the tornado, which the Weather Service said was about a half-mile long and 200 yards wide at its peak. The damage survey team also found ”extensive wind damage between Ainsworth State Park and Jackson Center with estimated winds between 70 and 80 mph,“ which was caused by an accompanying microburst, the NWS said.
Large trees are seen uprooted near Staples Pond in Williamstown, Vt., in April.NWS
More than an hour after the Vermont storm, two tornado warnings were issued for southern Worcester County after a pair of tight vortexes were spotted on radar, indicating a possible tornado.
No structural or other damages were found, but storm spotters have submitted reports of a funnel cloud near the Spencer-Leicester town line.
Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman. Marianne Mizera can be reached at marianne.mizera@globe.com. Follow her @MareMizera.
It’s been nearly a year and a half since border agent David ‘Chris’ Maland was shot and killed during a traffic stop near the interstate in Coventry, Vermont. Now, a group of law enforcement officers are petitioning to dedicate a section of I-91 to him.
SWANTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Police say a woman was shot and injured at her home in Swanton Town by a stray bullet.
It happened Wednesday at about 12:30 p.m. at a home on Ceres Circle in Swanton. Vermont troopers say the stray bullet was fired nearby and went into the woman’s residence.
Police say they have identified those involved, and there is no danger to the public.
The woman was taken to the hospital in St. Albans. We do not know her condition.
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Anyone with information is asked to call the state police in St. Albans at 802-524-5993 or to submit an anonymous tip online.
