Poll: 13% of Vermonters reported flood damage to homes, businesses

72% approve of Gov. Scott’s handling of the natural disaster

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger

About one-third of Vermonters were directly impacted by July’s historic flooding events, and 13% experienced damage to their home or place of work. That’s according to a new poll released Tuesday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

The poll, which collected responses online from 471 randomly selected Vermonters between Aug. 17-21, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5%. It found that 22% of respondents said they were unable to get to their home or business because of flooded or damaged roads, and 14% lost power or utility access; 1% said their home or place of work was destroyed. 

Impacts varied dramatically by region. Seventy-one percent of central Vermont residents responded that they experienced a direct impact, while 38% of southern Vermont residents, 35% of northern Vermont residents, and 13% of Chittenden County residents said they were affected.

Among those who reported their town or city was significantly affected, 18% said it had completely recovered, 43% said it had largely recovered, 28% said it had somewhat recovered, and 5% said it had not at all recovered. But among central Vermont respondents, only 37% said that their town or city had completely or largely recovered. 

Most Vermonters polled (72%), however, said they approved of Gov. Phil Scott’s handling of the natural disaster. Polling consistently finds that Democrats give the Republican governor higher marks than members of the GOP, and this survey’s results repeated the pattern: 76% of Democrats said they approved of Scott’s handling of the floods, while 70% of Republicans and 64% of independents said the same.