PA Environment Digest

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced early Friday an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered federal aid to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee beginning on September 3 and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

The counties included in the declaration are: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wyoming, and York.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

Thomas J. McCool has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

While federal disaster assistance centers will be established in areas affected by flooding, businesses and individuals can find a overview of assistance to be made available on the FEMA website.

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