Local communities are working together after Hurricane Irene flooding to clean up and to organize the efforts to get help where it is needed. This has been a massive, primarily volunteer effort on the part of citizens, business owners, public officials and visitors.
If there was ever any doubt that Waitsfield is the heart of the Mad River Valley, it has been dispelled by the Herculean relief efforts that are centered at the Masonic Lodge in Waitsfield Village.
Opened two days after the flooding, the Hurricane Relief Center has become the central clearinghouse for all volunteer efforts, goods and services needed and information about local, state and federal help. It is from there that the relief efforts for Waitsfield and our neighbors in Warren, Moretown and to the south are being organized.
It is appropriate that the Waitsfield Select Board voted this week to provide funding for two positions at the Flood Relief Headquarters. An enormous amount of work has been done and there is an enormous amount of work to be done. Volunteers have borne the brunt of all the work, whether it was carrying buckets full of mud or answering phones at relief headquarters. But now paid help is necessary to avoid volunteer burnout.
Cleanup is almost done in most places. Buildings and houses have been stripped to the studs and floor boards and are drying out. There is much to be done. Homes and offices need to be put back together and buttoned up before the snow flies. People need places to live, backhoes and help navigating FEMA and insurance and other technicalities.
It is appropriate that Waitsfield—recognizably The Valley’s “downtown”—take the lead on this and fund the relief work first, then seek financial assistance and recompense later. People need help and the town has provided the leadership to get it done, whether the help is needed in Waitsfield or Moretown or Hancock.
This is one instance where it is more important to get things fixed first and then worry about the funding later.
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