Vermont's congressional delegation on Wednesday announced that Vermont will receive nearly $8.7 million for two flood relief programs to help Vermont farmers and property owners recover from Tropical Storm Irene.

Vermont will receive $6.3 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program and $2.3 million for the Emergency Conservation Program.

Both programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One assists property owners whose homes are threatened by flooded rivers, helping to stabilize stream banks and protect foundations and houses from further flood damage. It also provides resources for clearing log jams that threaten property and public infrastructure. The other program provides emergency funding and technical assistance for farmers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters

"I am very pleased that Secretary Tom Vilsack has acted quickly to award a significant allocation of these much-needed federal disaster funds to help the hundreds of Vermont farmers whose fields were damaged by Tropical Storm Irene, and to help many other property owners across the state whose properties are threatened by unstable stream banks," Sanders said.