BRATTLEBORO — The Vermont Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security (DEMHS) will host its annual series of Springtime Flooding Forums across Vermont this week.
A forum for southern Vermont towns will be held Thursday, March 17, at Brattleboro Retreat, 1 Anna Marsh Lane, from 10 a.m. to noon.
These meetings are designed to help community leaders and emergency responders prepare for possible problems, and advise what resources are available to them for a response to and recovery from such events.
The National Weather Service will review upcoming forecasts and the spring flood outlook. This presentation will have specific information on rivers that run through areas in which the meetings will be held.
DEMHS will discuss what resources are available to communities during incidents like floods, and will talk about recovery from a disaster and the process of applying for federal disaster assistance in incidents where Vermont qualifies for a declaration.
Regional Planning Commissions will review protocols for information flow with communities during and after a disaster, while the state Agency of Natural Resources will discuss the particulars of Emergency Protective Measures and when a permit may be required, and the Agency of Transportation will outline preparations for potential flooding and what the agency does during a flood response.