| VOLUME XXXI No. 15 | Narrowsburg, NY | April 14 - 20, 2005 |
|
|
Flood waters receding, damages swelling MILFORD, PA — Roger Maltby was exhausted as he reported to the Pike County Commissioners last Wednesday morning. “I’ve been talking to so many people that I don’t really know which one I said what to,” the county’s director of emergency management admitted. Maltby said he was awaiting damage reports, but tentatively reported that all of Pike’s municipalities, except Delaware Township, had reported road and/or bridge damage. For himself, Maltby said, the storm was unprecedented. “There are places with water, where I’ve never seen it my life…. This makes Ivan look like a spring shower,” the Matamoras native said. Governor Ed Rendell called for federal teams on April 4 to help assess the damages and followed up with a formal request on April 8 for President Bush to declare affected counties as disaster areas. He called for a quick federal response, according to a press statement, as many of the damaged areas are still recovering from last fall’s flooding. Maltby said federal and state emergency management agency personnel had arrived and were beginning to evaluate damages. Preliminary reports would reveal about 50 damaged homes in Matamoras and probably that many in neighboring Westfall Township, he estimated. Some places remained inaccessible as floodwaters refused to drain off. “There is so much water in the ground right now,” he said. No disaster funding will be available until the assessments are completed and the federal disaster declaration is approved. The Wayne-Pike Chapter of the American Red Cross reported that Red Cross workers from Alabama, Texas, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Florida came to assist area flood victims. Food, and water have been donated by local businesses to help. Red Cross cleaning supplies arrived by the truckload. Over 100 residents needed further assistance with necessities such as housing, food, clothing and medication. As flood victims return to their homes, the American Red Cross is providing supplies for families to clean and disinfect their homes. As residents begin to return home, arrangements will be made to ensure those affected have access to any Red Cross assistance they may need, said Wayne-Pike Executive Director, Marita C. Wenner. On the New York side of the river New York Governor George Pataki declared a state disaster emergency and called for federal assistance on Tuesday, April 5. On April 8, more than 20 town supervisors and town and village highway superintendents attended an informational meeting with Sullivan County Legislature Chairman Chris Cunningham, Public Works Committee Chair Kathy LaBuda and Public Safety Commissioner Dick Martinkovic. The meeting was held to update the municipalities on the county’s efforts to assist in infrastructure damage assessment and proceed with applications for state and federal disaster relief aid. Two areas in Fallsburg, Hasbrouck and Loch Sheldrake, were particularly hard hit. Foxcroft Village, home to many senior citizens, was devastated according to Legislative Public Safety Committee Chair Leni Binder. “Many residents are facing a total loss of home and possessions,” she reported earlier in the week. Cunningham told the gathered officials that the toll from flood damage to roads, bridges and infrastructure was expected to grow above early estimates of $16.5 million and that the process to apply for relief funding was well underway. “Unfortunately our past experience with flooding, especially the floods that hit last fall, has taught us just what we need to do to apply for disaster aid,” he said. “Everyone has pulled together and the process is in motion.” LaBuda assured the town and village officials that the towns and villages may dispose of debris from recent flooding as part of the 2005 Municipal Cleanup Program and tonnage will be credited against their free annual spring clean-up allocation. “The spring clean-up program can be used to help in this time of need,” LaBuda said. In Orange County, the Neversink River wreaked havoc on Deerpark and portions of Port Jervis. Some 53 homes in the Myers Grove neighborhood near Cuddebackville had been declared uninhabitable as of April 11 and additional homes could be added to that list. U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly was in Port Jervis and Deerpark on April 11 to evaluate early flood damage and said it was among the worst she has ever seen in the Hudson Valley.
Sullivan County damage estimates
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Problems? Comments? Contact the Webmaster.
Entire contents © 2005 by the author(s) and Stuart Communications, Inc.