Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Gov. Tom Wolf sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Thursday asking them to lower the federal damage assessment thresholds required for aid in the wake of the July 12 flash flooding that hit the area.
The governor’s letter comes weeks after the state was unable to obtain federal aid to help more than 1,100 people who reported damage to homes and businesses in Bensalem Township, Bristol Borough, and Bristol Township. County officials have said they estimate as many as 400 people were displaced by the flooding.
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While the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering low-interest loans to some, that is different that FEMA disaster aid which is more comprehensive and, in some cases, doesn’t have to be paid back. Disaster surveys did not tally enough damage to qualify the state for FEMA aid, which upset local officials and residents impacted by the storm.
“In order to receive a federal disaster declaration for Individual Assistance, which provides money directly to homeowners and renters, the commonwealth would need to reach certain thresholds for the number of homes that fit into the classification of ‘major damage’ or ‘destroyed’ along with other considerations that are specified by FEMA,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
“These localized short-duration, high-intensity precipitation events result in significant damages and impacts to human lives, but they rarely meet the thresholds needed for federal disaster aid in the form of Individual Assistance,” Gov. Wolf said. “While my administration is working diligently to support recovery efforts, substantial gaps remain when these localized events do not meet federal damage assessment thresholds. As a result, victims are left to pick up the pieces with little to no financial support. I’m requesting that FEMA adjust the thresholds to better reflect current weather trends that, as a result of climate change, are causing these intense rainstorms and impacting communities, including those that typically do not experience flooding.”
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
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The letter followed Wolf’s pledge to fight for changes to the disaster aid system that came while standing amid the devastation in Bensalem Township last month.
The damage from the July 12 storm was not just contained to Bucks County. Damage was also reported in Philadelphia and Tioga County.
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Wolf wrote that 5,200 Pennsylvania homes were damaged from flooding events in 2019 and that they did not meet the federal thresholds required for individual assistance.
“While flooding risk was originally thought to be associated with living in or near a special flood hazard zone or flood plain, data collected since 1993 has shown that 96% of flooding incidents in the commonwealth reported to the National Weather Service occurred outside of established flood plains. Despite this, many homeowners and renters are not required to purchase flood insurance by their lender or landlord and many are unable to afford the additional expense,” the governor’s office said.
“Evaluating impacts solely on a micro level at the municipal or county level alone, rather than toward a whole state assessment, would provide a more realistic assessment of the impacts to that community,” Wolf stated. “Doing so will provide much needed direct assistance to the most vulnerable who most often are ineligible for other disaster assistance.”
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