Tag: Bloomsburg Flood
-
“We Wanted to Find a Way to Help.” (Stories of the Relief Effort)
Read more: “We Wanted to Find a Way to Help.” (Stories of the Relief Effort)On Friday, October 7, the Wesley United Methodist Church on Market Street in Bloomsburg served the last of its AGAPE-sponsored, post-flood lunches. By the end of that day’s service, the church and AGAPE volunteers, led by Wesley kitchen coordinator Tracy Beere, served over 17,000 meals to members of our community during this time of crisis. Some of us needed to eat because our kitchens were destroyed and we could not cook for ourselves. Some of us were hungry after a long morning of volunteering to clean-up. And some of were simply too distracted to realize we were hungry until someone…
-
Alpha Phi Omega Helps Bloom Flood Victims
Read more: Alpha Phi Omega Helps Bloom Flood VictimsMolly Stout of Cherry Hill, NJ, and Janine Brunner of Slatington, PA, both members of the Bloomsburg University chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, spent the afternoon of October 7th canning along Lightstreet Road in Bloomsburg. Molly and Janine, along with other members of Alpha Phi Omega, have spent the last few weeks soliciting donations for the benefit of flood victims, as well as volunteering their time clearing trash, debris and mud from the homes of local residents.
-
How Well Do We Predict Floods?
Read more: How Well Do We Predict Floods?By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State There was no Ark involved and it didn’t last 40 days — but when the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped more rain on the already saturated Northeast, the result was the Susquehanna River’s worst flooding in nearly 40 years. Thousands were evacuated, a number of lives were lost, and damage to homes and businesses is said to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Given that floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States, could we be doing more to predict them and safeguard flood-prone communities? “We are continuing to…
-
Deadline Nears to Apply for Disaster Assistance
Read more: Deadline Nears to Apply for Disaster AssistanceThe deadline is nearing for residents and business owners who had damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee to apply for disaster assistance. The registration deadline is November 14, 2011. The deadline to submit a disaster loan application to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for disaster-related losses is also November 14, 2011. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) urge anyone who has not applied for assistance to call FEMA if they suffered damage from the storms and live, work or own a business in one of the following counties…
-
Bloom Hospital Staff Saved ER from Flooding
Read more: Bloom Hospital Staff Saved ER from FloodingAs Tropical Storm Lee rained on Bloomsburg, people worried about water rising from Fishing Creek and the Susquehanna. What would happen to the low lying areas of the community? No one gave a thought to the higher ground. Four employees of The Bloomsburg Hospital: Chuck Andreas, Scott Tanner, Brad Lurowitz, and Rick Millheim discovered that water from above is just as threatening as water from below. Their efforts in the early hours of Tuesday morning prevented the water running off the the hills above The Bloomsburg Hospital and into the Emergency Room. Andreas, Director of Security for the hospital, recalled,…
-
The Moose Exchange Donation Center: Q&A with Rachel Troychock
Read more: The Moose Exchange Donation Center: Q&A with Rachel TroychockFocused on children’s clothing and supplies, the AGAPE donation center at the Moose Exchange has been up and running since mid-September, thanks to the work of a tireless volunteer named Rachel Troychock. Rachel took some time recently to answer a few questions for us. Q. What do you do for a living? I am a Manager of Technology Learning Services at KPMG (geeky computer stuff). I work remotely and the rest of my team is in Montvale, NJ and Washington, DC. Q. How did you become involved in the Moose Exchange donation center? I volunteered through AGAPE to prepare meals…
-
Calling Bloomsburg Our Home
Read more: Calling Bloomsburg Our HomeOver the last month, many of us have had the chance to see both incredible destruction and an incredible outpouring of support from our friends and neighbors. As we enter Homecoming weekend, we thought it might be nice to ask people what calling Bloomsburg your home means to you and what Homecoming means in the face of the tragedy we have all suffered. Here are some responses. Feel free to add your voice by leaving a comment. Happy 2011 Homecoming to all of Bloomsburg. Our community is stronger than we ever imagined. Go Panthers and Huskies! Sadly, I will be…
-
Winning the War Against Mold (Part One of a Two Part Series)
Read more: Winning the War Against Mold (Part One of a Two Part Series)Chances are, most of us are trying to kill it right now. Everything it needs to grow is already in your home: the ideal temperature, plenty of food sources…the only other thing it needs to thrive is moisture. I’m talking, of course, about mold. Not only does it look and smell bad, but for people with allergies or compromised immune systems, mold can bring on headaches, asthma attacks or worse. While many of us have been running to the store for more bleach since flood clean-up began, here’s some surprising news: while the CDC‘s guidelines approve the use of bleach…
-
AGAPE Continuing to Help
Read more: AGAPE Continuing to HelpOne of the groups that has taken the lead with flood recovery efforts in Bloomsburg is AGAPE. The organization is an on-going mission to serve people in need throughout the area. In the days that have followed the flood, they have been a clearinghouse for donations and volunteers, providing cleaning supplies, clothes, meals, and just about anything else that victims have needed. And those needs are not going away, but they are changing on a daily and weekly basis. To this point, over 3000 people have volunteered to help AGAPE in the flood recovery. They have also been in 473 homes…
-
Flood Insurance Basics
Read more: Flood Insurance BasicsThe National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a somewhat misunderstood system. According to the FEMA website (who runs the NFIP): “The NFIP is a Federal program created by Congress to mitigate future flood losses nationwide through sound, community-enforced building and zoning ordinances and to provide access to affordable, federally backed flood insurance protection for property owners … Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between local communities and the Federal Government that states that if a community will adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risks to new construction in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), the…