Wolf Asks FEMA To Lower Aid Thresholds, Change Assessment Practices After Bucks Flooding

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Governor Tom Wolf has called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lower disaster aid thresholds and change their practices of evaluating damage, following rampant high-intensity rainstorms and flooding in Pennsylvania this summer.

Individual assistance through FEMA wasn’t available in Bensalem, Bristol, and other affected areas after extreme flooding in eastern Pennsylvania in July; while some areas received up to 10 inches of rain, county-wide damage in Bucks did not meet federal thresholds for aid. Neither did damage in other counties.

In response, Wolf requested that the Small Business Administration recognize Bucks, Philadelphia, and Tioga counties as a disaster area, and that loans be made available to residents there. SBA loans were made available to these and several other counties on July 29; however, residents need to pay off loans given through the SBA. Individual Assistance from FEMA would have simply provided disaster relief.

“In 2019 alone, over 5,200 Pennsylvania homes were damaged from flooding events; however, not one incident rose to the federal threshold level needed to apply for Individual Assistance,” the governor wrote in a Thursday letter to FEMA’s administrator, Deanne Criswell.

He said that flooding is an ongoing hazard in the commonwealth — and one that’s increasing in both frequency and intensity. Consistent with the planet’s warming due to global emissions, climate experts have noted a rising heat index in Pennsylvania as things get "warmer and wetter," which they believe will contribute to more extreme flooding.

“While these short duration, high intensity precipitation events result in significant damages and impacts to human lives, these localized incidents rarely meet the thresholds needed for federal disaster aid in the form of Individual Assistance under the provisions of section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act,” Wolf wrote.

He also pointed to data showing that, since 1993, 96 percent of flooding incidents in Pennsylvania reported to the National Weather Service occurred outside of established flood plains. This means many homeowners don’t have flood insurance or other protections in case of disaster.

In order to receive a federal disaster declaration for Individual Assistance, Pennsylvania as a whole needs to reach certain thresholds for the number of homes that fit into the classification of “major damage” or “destroyed,” in addition to other qualifications by FEMA. The governor called for this to change; he wants FEMA to evaluate impacts on a “micro level” of municipal or county damage alone — rather than statewide damage — in order to “provide a more realistic assessment of the impacts to that community” and deliver needed resources.

The governor also requested that thresholds to qualify for aid be lowered as these hazards become both more commonplace and more severe.

“Doing so will provide much needed direct assistance to the most vulnerable who are most often ineligible for other disaster assistance,” he wrote.

Read related stories on flooding in Bucks County:

100-Year Flood Prompts Evacuations, Rescues In Eastern PA

Bensalem Residents Seek Aid Online After Flooding Disaster

Wolf Won’t Declare Bucks Emergency Disaster, Seeks SBA Loans

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