Vermont Flood day 12

It’s been a long haul for the people of Barre, Montpelier and all the other towns in Vermont affected by the flooding, almost two weeks ago now.

I went to doctors appointment today and one of the first things I noticed was how quiet and peaceful it was. I’m one of the managers of an emergency pet shelter set up by the Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (CVDART), so I’ve seen people who are among the worst hit.

At the shelter, people are still looking for a place to live, a way to get to work, and options for their kids. The crisis is still in full swing. Even as people are able to return home, they are faced with replacing water heaters and windows, furniture and siding. Renters have been told their apartments won’t be ready for months and too many business owners may never be able to come back from the devastation.

People are living in their cars while waiting for something, anything, to come through for them.The tension is seen on people’s faces and in their body language. At the doctor’s office all was normal. It’s not that people don’t care, but it’s hard to maintain a sense of crisis when roads are opening back up and people are back at work. It’s disorienting to jump from world to world.

For those at the shelter the shock is wearing off, but reality is setting in. Many towns are having rolling road closures as they get dump trucks in to remove the trash. Those piles of garbage being carted away were once people’s belongings, their clothing, bedding, furniture, rugs and curtains. The piles are sheetrock that once covered walls, and flooring that is now warped and torn beyond use. Each dump truck that heads to the landfill represents someone’s home or business destroyed.

Meanwhile, at the VDART animal shelter (vermontdart.org) we are starting to have more animals go home than come in, but we still have over 20 dogs and cats, as well as 2 guinea pigs and a rabbit. I’ll talk more about the shelter in another post, but for now I’m still working long days and writing is a pleasure to be fitted in around the edges.

I have been amazed by the generosity of strangers. One woman came in and handed us $100 for the animals, then left before we could do more than say thanks. Many people have dropped off dog or cat food, we have enough that we have left a pile near our door for people to come and help themselves. We have a woman, who is sleeping in her car, reach into her pocket and pull out three dollars to donate. It made me want to cry, or hug her, both or which would have horrified her.

We also had an impromptu rabies clinic a couple nights ago when it became clear that many of our animals weren’t up to date on their vaccinations. The clinic was done by an organization called the Mitzvah Fund that normally provides free and low cost care to pets for people with few resources.

The Mitzvah Fund heard about the shelter and came in and gave all the animals a physical and vaccinations as needed. The day before we had a representative from VT-CAN, a low cost spay-neuter organization, working to get animals signed. We’ve worked closely with Central Vermont Humane Society with animals that either came in as strays or had to be relinquished by their owner. It’s been great to see the animal welfare community work together to give these animals and their owners the best possible outcome after this disaster.