From staff reports
Despite widespread damage in several Venango County municipalities hit hard by the July 19 flood, it doesn’t appear likely the county will receive any federal financial assistance.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get anything,” said Tim Dunkle, director of the county’s Department of Public Safety, at a Cranberry Township supervisors meeting Thursday.
Damages to infrastructure in the county are estimated at between $600,000 and $700,000, said Dunkle. That total covers roads and sewers but doesn’t include PennDOT-related damages to state roads and bridges as well as any residential or commercial losses.
At the meeting, PennDOT district executive Jim Foringer reported the PennDOT-related damages amounted to $2.5 million in Venango County.
Dunkle explained the county threshold for applying for federal emergency assistance is $208,000.
Dunkle said any financial help would have been channeled through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for review and then forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
It is the federal agency, he said, that allocates the funding.
