Greene awaits assistance ruling on flood damage
WAYNESBURG – After submitting an assessment of the Nov. 19 flood damage, the Greene County Emergency Management office remains hopeful that initial inspections by state and federal officials, as well as new inspections Thursday, will bring some aid to the county. After conducting an initial assessment of the flood damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided it needed to take another look to determine if Greene County residents and businesses will receive relief funds.
“Right now, the state PEMA people and the federal FEMA people have come back into the area to re-examine all the numbers and reassess the damages we had and so forth to see what actually did happen here,” said Jeff Marshall, county emergency management director. “It is a case we have to prove. We have got to show the damage and see what they come up with.”
Marshall said the floodwaters damaged 315 single-family and mobile homes to varying degrees and affected 72 businesses.
Two teams composed of state and federal emergency representatives again are exploring the residences damaged, and another inspection team is investigating the businesses affected.
Marshall said he could not speculate what the officials eventually will determine, and it is the delay that has area residents concerned about the funds.
“I’ve never been told a yes or a no,” Marshall said.
He said that due to the flooding, more than 50 residents were forced to live away from their homes, and while no total estimates have been compiled, public offices such as schools and municipalities already have suffered $514,000 in damage, not including that inflicted on the West Greene School District.
After the flooding closed two major routes into Waynesburg, the county commissioners declared the county a disaster area, and local residents and businesses are still trying to recover from the deluge.
Marshall said that if the state determines that the disaster declaration is warranted, Gov. Ed Rendell will assess the situation and “hopefully” approve the declaration, making federal funds for cleanup and rebuilding available, even for residents without flood insurance.
According to David Hughes, an agent for Paul Sprowls Insurance Agency in Uniontown, most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage because flood insurance is a separate coverage operated by FEMA. The federal agency administers the National Flood Insurance Program, which offers coverage to people who live in flood-prone areas. Hughes did note, however, that because of the emergency and disaster declarations, some recourse should be available for area residents who sustained flood damage.
State Rep. H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg), in a letter to the editor, requested further examination from emergency officials and expressed disappointment with the actions already taken.
“I implore the federal government to re-evaluate the data compiled by Greene County and PEMA officials to get a more accurate picture of the destruction inflicted on more than 300 homes and 70 businesses,” DeWeese wrote. “It is hard to understand how neighboring counties in West Virginia received a disaster declaration, but, at the same time, Greene County is left out in the cold.
DeWeese also said in the letter that he hopes the state Senate will pass legislation spearheaded by state Rep. Peter Daley (D-California) to assist residents in disasters not covered by federal aid and bring relief in situations like the Greene County flood.
Daley said the program, PENNCrisis, would put money into a revolving loan and grant fund that would help businesses and residents recoup money from disasters not large enough to qualify for state or federal aid. He said he has been working on the bill more than five years, and he remains hopeful that with the help of the Rendell administration, the bill still may become law.
“There are disasters that fall below federal and state disaster declarations. Greene County could have fallen under this program,” Daley said.