Governor Requests Disaster Declaration for Southern Tier
Broome, Tioga, Chenango and Delaware Counties are among those New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is looking to come under a Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government.
The Democrat September 13 requested the declaration to open up major financial assistance for debris removal and repairs from the flash flooding last month.
The flash flooding from heavy rain in the middle of August washed out roads and caused millions of dollars in damage to private properties in the Southern Tier, Central New York and Finger Lakes.
Clean up and recovery is continuing from over a half foot of rain that fell in some areas on already heavily saturated ground from rain in the spring and July.
Some estimates put the August damage and repair costs at $36 million.
In addition to continued debris removal and repairs, money could also be used for prevention of future flood damage.
The cleanup continues in Northeast Pennsylvania as well with some roads still closed indefinitely in Bradford County following repeated torrential rain storms. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is also still working on debris removal and repair on roads in Susquehanna County. PennDOT says there are lane restrictions for repairs on State Route 1020 in Liberty Township, State Route 3023 in Dimock Township and Route 3029 in Jessup Township while a signed detour is posted on State Route 4002 in Liberty Township.
PennDOT has scheduled the work on all those routes for between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. September 17-21.