MONTPELIER — As with most of the capital’s downtown, many state government buildings face a long recovery before they can be fully open to employees and the public.

The flooding earlier this month affected 22 state buildings in Montpelier, said Jennifer Fitch, commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services, in an interview.

Water entered basements and reached the first floors of some buildings — including those that house the Green Mountain Care Board, the Vermont Arts Council and the Agency of Transportation. Those buildings will not be open for another 90 days, according to a map Fitch provided to VTDigger.

Eighteen state-owned structures along State Street in Montpelier were damaged in the storm, although three have already reopened.

Fitch and her staff were working out of a building at 14-16 Baldwin St. because the building where they normally work, 133 State St., was among those that flooded.

Gov. Phil Scott and his senior staff also had to vacate their offices in the Pavilion Building. They are working out of the Dill Transportation Building in Berlin, said his spokesperson, Jason Maulucci.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is working out of a condo at 112 State St., Fitch said.

In addition to displacing state workers, the flooding damaged some paper documents and computers, according to Fitch.

State employees have sifted through retrieved documents, deciding whether to throw them out or keep them. ServPro, a private contractor hired by the state, has frozen the salvaged documents and is drying and decontaminating them at its facility in Tennessee, Fitch said.

All the computers at the Green Mountain Care Board, at 144 State St. were damaged, Fitch said.

Most of the state buildings in Montpelier are still in an initial phase of recovery, which involves drying them out, removing wet material and decontaminating them, said Fitch.

“The most important thing that you have to do anytime you’ve had a flood is to remove the water and to dry the structure out as quickly as possible,” she said.

Hot air is brought in through temporary ducts on the lower levels to dry out the moisture, Fitch explained. On upper levels, cool air is pushed in to cool the dry air that has risen, which prevents mold accumulation, Fitch said. Dehumidifiers and fans are also running inside the buildings. The last part of phase one is to disinfect the buildings.

Some damaged buildings have reopened, such as 122 State St. and 120 State St., where the Department of Motor Vehicles is operating, said Amy Tatko, director of communications and public outreach for the Vermont Agency of Transportation.

However, the DMV office in Montpelier remains closed to the public, Secretary of Transportation Joe Flynn said Tuesday during Gov. Phil Scott’s press conference. Staff inside are handling online services, mailed transactions, and license and registration suspensions and reinstatements, among other services. But driver’s tests, which cannot be handled remotely, are suspended.

Fitch said her staff is looking for possible alternative Montpelier locations for the road tests. Flynn said the Dummerston motor vehicles office is also closed to the public to allow staff there to supplement staff at the other offices in southern Vermont, which remain open.

The recovery effort experienced a setback last week when water rose again because of a high water table in the Pavilion Building and 133 State St. Those buildings house the governor’s office, the Vermont Historical Society and legislative offices, among others. By Wednesday, the sub-basements had been pumped dry again.

After the flood, the basement of the Pavilion Building, where the governor’s office and the Vermont Historical Society are, was under nearly 7 feet of water. It was dry and clean again by Wednesday, when Fitch led VTDigger on a tour. Hot and cold air was thrumming through big plastic tubing.

Fitch said H.P. Cummings has been hired as the general contractor to rebuild damaged state buildings, which will be the second phase of recovery.

Another consideration is electrical equipment. Fitch said if it gets wet, it must be replaced, but for the moment, the Division of Fire Safety is allowing her department to bring in temporary power.

Once all the electrical panels and fuses are cleaned, electrical power can be turned back on slowly to see what works and what does not. In the long run, anything that got wet will have to be replaced, she said.

Fitch said buildings that had water but no electrical systems in the basement should come back online “pretty quickly.”

On the other hand, 109 and 133 State St., as well as 111 State St., which houses the judiciary, will take longer, as their mechanical equipment was in sub-basements that were flooded for several days.

The Statehouse, high on its hill, escaped all damage, Fitch said.