Hundreds Of Homes Damaged By Irene

AP/Toby Talbot

An ATV waits for a truck delivering gravel to repair roads Thursday in Bethel. With hundreds of roads and about 30 bridges impassable, ATVs are getting folks where they need to go.

(Host) The state says at least 312 homes were destroyed or severely damaged by flooding earlier this week.

The damage estimate was part included in the state's request for a disaster declaration that President Obama approved on Thursday.

The declaration means homeowners in four counties will be eligible to receive direct grants to pay for temporary housing, home repair or other expenses.

Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding says the other hard-hit counties will be eligible soon.

(Spaulding) "And we want to get that rolling as soon as we can. So we made the strategic decision that we would file a major declaration for those counties that we had finished the assessments on. And those counties on individual assistance were not in the order where the most damage was. It was what we could get done the soonest." 

(Host) The four counties that were approved by the White House are Chittenden, Rutland, Washington and Windsor.