Vermont’s congressional delegation on Thursday called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address shortcomings it said residents faced accessing federal assistance after the July 2023 floods.

In a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the delegation thanked the agency for providing more than $25 million in direct aid to over 3,600 households affected by the floods. 

But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also wrote that the agency had fallen short in several areas of its response. The delegation said that “many Vermonters struggled to access” housing assistance, particularly manufactured home owners; FEMA’s correspondence with aid applicants was confusing; and technical assistance was unnecessarily delayed. 

In its letter, the delegation demanded answers to a series of related questions, along with a staff briefing, by May 29.