Category: Flood 2011
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Donors Help Magic Carpet Preschool Get Back to Barton Street
Read more: Donors Help Magic Carpet Preschool Get Back to Barton StreetWhen Penny Pomfret, director of Magic Carpet Preschool in Bloomsburg, dismissed her students early on September 7th from their Barton Street location, she was thinking about flooding but was focusing on the potential for losses in the school’s basement. “I did not realize how destructive the flood would be until I woke up Thursday morning after it had already happened. We went to bed Wednesday evening believing [the river] would crest at 28 feet, much less than Agnes.” Because the school’s current location was not flooded during Agnes, the main concerns were water in the basement and the potential loss…
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Time is Running Out – Only Two Weeks Left to Register for Disaster Aid
Read more: Time is Running Out – Only Two Weeks Left to Register for Disaster AidHARRISBURG, Pa. — Survivors of the storms and flooding that ravaged central and eastern Pennsylvania have only two weeks left to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster assistance. The deadline to register is November 14, 2011. Individuals who live, work, or own a business in the 29 Pennsylvania counties designated under the disaster declarations for Hurricane Irene and Tropical Strom Lee are eligible. The counties are Adams, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Union, Wyoming, and York.…
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It’s Your Turn: Santa Needs Our Help
Read more: It’s Your Turn: Santa Needs Our HelpIt is the first day of November and many thoughts are now turning to the holidays. Flood victims are the primary concern as the holidays can be a difficult time for those who have suffered major losses. One victim who no one has been talking about, however, is Santa Claus. Unfortunately, when the flood waters came, even his cottage wasn’t spared. Stored at the Public Works building in Bloomsburg, it incurred significant damage and is currently being repaired by those in the Public Works Department. We talked with Tim Wagner from Downtown Bloomsburg Inc. (DBI, which runs the cottage) and he…
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Run to Rebuild 5K to Benefit Flood Victims
Read more: Run to Rebuild 5K to Benefit Flood VictimsWhen Ginny Larson and Brooke Wilson met as graduate students in the Student Affairs program at Bloomsburg University, they had very little idea that they would eventually work together to become disaster recovery organizers. Larson, a Bloomsburg native, 2004 graduate of Central Columbia High School, and 2008 graduate of Bloomsburg University, was drawn back to town for her masters degree for this simple reason: “I love the area.” Wilson, a native of Rockport, Massacusetts, discovered Bloomsburg when she decided to pursue her masters and received a graduate assistantship in the Sports Information office at BU. Both, however, were incredibly affected…
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The Power of Maps: The 2011 Flood
Read more: The Power of Maps: The 2011 FloodPeople have been using maps to share information for thousands of years. First used as simple illustrations to plot paths from location A to location B, maps have evolved into rich information sources. In the age of the Internet and the rise of simple and powerful tools like Google Maps, normal people now have the power to create new forms of maps that mix detailed information with locations. These new “mash-ups” are able to provide information to people very quickly and easily. In many ways, people are using simple techniques to build powerful and sometimes life-saving maps to quickly share…
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The View from Here: Melissa D. Matthews
Read more: The View from Here: Melissa D. MatthewsI came to Bloomsburg over 25 years ago. Our first home in Bloomsburg was right next door to Ash and Naunas on East Street and we became lifelong friends with Bob and Jeanne Naunas. They sold the house and business a couple of years later to Al Lenzini, another great man. A little over a year later we looked for a home of our own. Having two children at the time and not much saved we found a home along the creek that was lovely. We lived there for almost 20 years before the flood of 2006 claimed most of…
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Bloomsburg Little League Races to Repair Fields by Spring
Read more: Bloomsburg Little League Races to Repair Fields by SpringBloomsburg’s Little League fields, located in the town park, were destroyed by the flooding last month. While volunteers have come from as far away as Rochester, NY to help with clean-up, the work is far from over. “Our goal is to finish planting grass (on the fields) by the end of the month,” said League Treasurer and Administrator Leslie Chyko. The concession stand, which also serves as off-season storage for the league, took in twelve feet of water and needs to be completely rebuilt. In addition to that structure, three of the dugouts need major repairs and most of the…
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The Women’s Center: Rebuilding Lives While Recovering From the Flood
Read more: The Women’s Center: Rebuilding Lives While Recovering From the FloodOf all the buildings damaged in Bloomsburg by September’s flooding, there is one whose address we cannot list. We can’t photograph the outside of it or even tell you who lives there: It is the emergency shelter of The Women’s Center. As the domestic and sexual violence crisis agency for the area, The Women’s Center(TWC) provides not only emergency shelter but extensive counseling services and legal support, and is one of the first centers of its kind in the state to offer medical advocacy for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. TWC’s Executive Director, Zabrina Finn, along with a staff…
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A Flood of Silence: Eileen Chapman
Read more: A Flood of Silence: Eileen ChapmanA Flood of Silence is an ongoing series of digital stories from those personally affected by the 2011 flood in Bloomsburg, PA. This week’s installment features AGAPE Executive Director Eileen Chapman, who tells us about the challenges of helping “a very proud people” recover from a disaster the magnitude of which they may only just now be realizing over a month later and how it is far from over.
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AGAPE in Dire Need of Volunteers
Read more: AGAPE in Dire Need of VolunteersAGAPE is in dire need of volunteers. The need for help (especially during the day) is now critical with the new applications for financial assistance coming in as well as an increased demand for furniture, appliances etc. as flood survivors begin to get back on their feet. In the words of an AGAPE employee, “It was a zoo yesterday and as you know not one person there is a paid employee.” The crisis is over but the emergency is not. AGAPE is requesting volunteers to fill positions at the dates and times listed below. Please understand that any part of the…