WOLCOTT, Vt. (WCAX) – Some small towns across Vermont are going to have a little more greenspace this fall.
The town of Wolcott is working with residents, FEMA and Vermont Emergency Management on several buyouts in town.
Wolcott currently has about eight different homes that have been, or will be demolished, the land turned into flood resilience projects.
Officials plan to give a piece of land to Vermont Fish and Wildlife for future research, as well as adding more land to the town forest.
Selectboard members say many of those homeowners have moved out of town, or are staying with family, and the devastation from the 2023 and 2024 July floods still lingers.
“How do you tell a person who has been traumatized, no we won’t let you apply. Some of these people have been repeatedly flooded and just the trauma of it. You just can’t say no,” Linda Martin from the Wolcott Selectboard said.
Officials say they are worried about the possibility of more flooding, as the snow melts in the next couple weeks.
