FLOOD WATERS RECEDING, RECOVERY EFFORTS UNDERWAY
Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today reported that with flood waters receding as the Susquehanna River level drops, recovery efforts are well underway.
He said President Bush has declared Dauphin and other counties in Pennsylvania as a Federal Disaster Area which triggers a variety of aid from different federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
All flood victims—whether resident or business—who sustained any damage, cost or loss from the flood should now call FEMA at 1-800-621-3362 to register their name and address. This is the central registry for flood aid and FEMA will analyze each case to determine what help is available to each person, company or group that has registered as a flood victim.
Regarding recovery operations, which began at 5:00 a.m. today, Reed reported that:
- Front Street will be fully cleared, washed down and open before the end of today (Mon., Sept. 20);
- Cameron Street, from the north city line to Market Street, is open; flood waters still remain in portions of South Cameron street and most of that remains closed; the same is true for the 2nd St. ramps from Interstate 83, which remains flooded and closed;
- A significant number of structures have basement water, including buildings some distance from where flood waters existed; basement drainage systems will empty these basements only as the river level drops (at this hour, the river is still at 21 feet, well above the 17 feet flood stage); pumping basements while the river level remains high does little good, as the water comes back into the basement from floor drains; as the river level drops, pumping might accelerate purging basements of water but, in most cases, pumping will ultimately not be necessary;
- Flood waters have left roadways in all flood areas except in South Cameron Street, Shipoke and some other parts of south Harrisburg; Shipoke remains half flooded at this hour, with some homes still having water into the first floor;
- Since basements are still full of water and half the streets in Shipoke are still flooded, it is not safe to reoccupy Shipoke and residents are being advised to have alternate lodging for tonight;
- Re-Entry teams entered Shipoke at 1:00 p.m. today to start checking those properties in Shipoke where roadway water has receded, in order to get the effort for reoccupancy started; street clearance involves washing down the streets, which cannot begin until all roadway flood water is gone, or otherwise the city would be adding new water to the existing water level in the street; that work will commence as soon as practical in Shipoke; clean-up work has started in all the other flood zones;
- In Shipoke, until streets are cleared, washed down and swept, no parking will be allowed due to the narrow width of neighborhood streets; residents may park, when returning to the neighborhood, in the nearby motel parking lot;
- During initial clean-up work, vehicular admission to the Shipoke neighborhood will be limited by police to residents and only those engaged in clean-up work;
- Packets listing helpful tips for flood clean-up and how to save wood, textile, paper and other items, along with information about flood aid, will begin being distributed to residences and businesses in flood zones today and tomorrow on a door-to-door basis;
- Regular streetsweeping throughout the city is suspended for the entire week, as streetsweepers and their crews will be focused only on flood zones; parking restrictions related to the streetsweeping schedule are therefore also waived;
- Trash pick-up citywide is being done on its regular schedule with no interruption;
- City Island remains mostly flooded and therefore remains closed to the public;
- The UGI Corporation has waived the standard fee normally charged for turning on gas meters and pilot lights on gas appliances for all flood victims in the city;
- The Dauphin County Bar Association will hold a free seminar with attorneys present to discuss insurance and legal matters related to flooding in the Atrium of City Government Center on Market Square on Wednesday, September 29th (next week) at 6:30 p.m.; all flood victims from throughout the midstate are invited;
- City schools reopen tomorrow (Tuesday) on their regular school schedule;
- There is NOT a Boil Water Advisory in effect for customers of the Harrisburg Water System;
- The city’s Paxton Fire Station No. 6 remains closed due to flood waters still in the first floor and basement; fire apparatus and personnel have been relocated to other city stations and are routinely responding to calls from their temporary quarters;
- Multiple hazardous materials incidents have occurred today; one involved a fifty-gallon drum of Zinc Orthophosphate discovered in a delivery vehicle that had just arrived at the city’s water treatment plant and found to have spilled its contents inside the truck; the Dauphin County Hazardous Materials Unit is doing clean-up; a second incident is flood-related, involving 100 or more gallons of materials that got t loose during flooding in the first block of South Cameron Street and is also being cleaned-up. Home heating oil tanks ruptured in multiple homes, mostly in Shipoke, as a result of pressure from basement flooding;
Reed said the river will not drop below flood level until sometime Tuesday.
“This flood has been damaging, but it was no catastrophic. The city and region will full recover, will come back better than event, and we shall further build on the progress that has been happening in Harrisburg and the region,” the Mayor said.
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