One week after moving into the Caribbean and then striking the U.S. east coast as acategory 1 hurricane, Tropical Storm Irene arrived in Vermont on August 27, 2011. The stormcaused widespread damage in 223 of the state's 251 towns and villages. Severe floodingwas particularly devastating for transportation infrastructure, requiring the Vermont Agency ofTransportation (VTrans) to take a leading role in the recovery. The extent of the damage,however, proved too much for a single agency to manage alone. VTrans' leadership sought helpfrom the state's 11 regional planning commissions (RPCs) to assume responsibility for assessingneeded local road repairs. While the RPCs were well positioned to assist because of theirestablished relationships and networks within the towns, their recovery activities often wentbeyond their typical scope of work. The collaboration between VTrans and the RPCs offerslessons for disaster preparedness and recovery, both crucial elements for building moreresilient communities. In Vermont, the RPCs serve as regional transportation planningorganizations under contract to VTrans, including one that serves as the state's only metropolitanplanning organization. This paper describes the roles played by the regional transportationplanning entities and lessons learned in order to provide a model for local-state-regionalrelationships in other potentially disaster-affected areas of the country.
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