Area roads will not see PEMA aid

Cresheim Valley Drive will not be getting federal aid after all

The damage to area roads, including Cresheim Valley, caused by September's severe weather is not serious enough to merit qualification for federal disaster assistance, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency has found.

In a recent letter from PEMA's director, David M. Sanko, to CHCA president Maxine Dornemann, the agency said that a recent damage assessment documenting uninsured loss to homeowners, businesses and municipal governments in Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties concluded that "the magnitude of damages to roads and streets in your area do not meet the levels necessary for federal assistance."

"We haven't given up, and were not going to accept that as the final word," Dornemann said, adding that both city Councilman Frank Rizzo and Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller's offices are pursuing efforts to secure aid.

"They are very hopeful that we can get this done sooner rather than later," she said.

"I'm not convinced that there's not going to be any federal funds involved," said Stewart Graham, Rizzo's chief of staff and a CHCA board member. "The councilman is convinced we are going to get funds for this, even if it means transferring money from within the budget of Philadelphia."

"I think we will be seeing some action before the June time frame," Graham said, referring to the month next year when major work resurfacing work was already planned for the road. In the worst-case scenario -- it would be nearly a year after the initial closing -- money from that project would be diverted to repair the road.

Individual assistance for homeowners, renters and businesses suffering uninsured losses was approved last month and is being managed by PEMA's parent, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Residents have until Nov. 18 to apply for federal disaster assistance. The number to call is 1-800-621-FEMA; applicants can also register online at www.fema.gov.

As of Oct. 20, 1,069 people in Philadelphia had applied for assistance, including disaster housing grants, totaling $1,597,404. In Montgomery County, 97 people had applied for $105,032 worth of assistance, according to a FEMA press release. A total of $32.5 million has been approved statewide.

-James Sturdivant