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FEMA Officials Survey Storm Damage Across Area

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Jun 25, 2009 7:30 pm US/Eastern

FEMA Officials Survey Storm Damage Across Area

TURTLE CREEK (KDKA) ― Some of the victims of last week's storms might be getting some federal assistance, depending on what FEMA officials determine after surveying the damage in their communities.

People in many local neighborhoods are still cleaning up after the major flooding caused by last Wednesday's heavy downpours.

Today, state and federal inspectors made the rounds across some of the hardest hit areas in parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.

Representatives from both the Federal and State Emergency Management Agencies arrived in Turtle Creek around 10am and immediately began assessing the damage along Church and Railroad Streets.

They're keeping a running total of the homes destroyed, damaged and otherwise affected by the storms.

It didn't take inspectors long to see the damage at Kevin Brooks' home.

Brooks says he lost everything when Thompson Run overran its banks – and he feared for his life. "We didn't know if we was going to get out," he told KDKA, "...but they finally sent a boat for us."

The objective of today's joint PEMA and FEMA tours is to gather information for a disaster declaration for both the state and federal government. With such a declaration, relief and much needed money will follow.

"There's no way we could foot a bill for the amount of damage that's been done," Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie said today. "We're praying and hoping that FEMA recognizes that this is a disaster – because it truly is."

Mayor Forgie estimates Turtle Creek's damage at about $500,000 for the municipality alone; but that figure does not include the houses destroyed by the flooding.

Agents from FEMA also spent the day visiting flood-ravaged areas in Westmoreland County.  They assessed the damage to more than 1,000 homes in Jeannette, North Huntingdon and Penn Township.

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