PLAINFIELD – U.S. Rep. Becca Balint visited the area on Wednesday last week to recognize the anniversary of historic floods in 2023 and 2024. “Since the floods in 2023 and 2024, the folks at The Creative Campus at Goddard have been important partners in the work of revitalizing the Plainfield community and investing in its future,” said Rep. Balint of a Plainfield stop. “I’m always so impressed by the resilience of Vermonters.”
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Rep. Balint visited with organizations and businesses in Plainfield, Montpelier and Barre.
“Three years after floods devastated communities, businesses and homes in central Vermont, Vermonters remain resilient. But there is still so much work to be done, she said.
“I had the opportunity to visit Barre, Montpelier, and Plainfield and meet with local organizations and businesses about the important work still left to do to ensure we are prepared for future disasters.”
Rep. Balint ended the day at the Old Labor Hall in Barre for an Extreme Weather People’s Hearing where she joined U.S. Senator Peter Welch, Vermont State Senators Anne Watson and Andrew Perchlik, alongside the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) and its Vermont partners.
“This was a forum for Vermont lawmakers to hear directly from Vermonters about how increasingly severe floods, heat waves and other extreme weather events are affecting them,” said Rep. Balint.
The event, through first person testimony, highlighted how climate change is fueling more dangerous and deadly extreme weather, and threatening the lives and livelihoods of Vermonters.
Small business owners, public health experts, farmers and community members testified about how their lives have been disrupted by climate change-fueled extreme weather, including the catastrophic flooding in July of 2023 and 2024.
“Vermonters know firsthand the pain caused by climate-driven extreme weather. This week, we’re remembering the floods of 2023 and 2024, which caused brutal damage to homes, farms, small businesses, and entire communities. Many folks are still recovering, and they need support from the federal government. I’m fighting in Washington to get disaster recovery funding back to Vermont and improve disaster assistance programs to better support rural states,” said Sen. Welch. “Climate change and extreme weather events can hit any community. This is a red state issue just as much as it is a blue state issue; We need bipartisan solutions and action, and we need it now.”
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
