Brady urges long term planning to protect residents in Eastwick and Darby floodplain and calls for action on Eastwick buyout plan

PHILADELPHIA --- Congressman Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.) says there needs to be long term planning to protect residents and businesses in the Darby Creek floodplain.

“We are talking about predictable recurring flooding,” said the Congressman who visited flooded homes in the Darby and Eastwick areas of the First Congressional District.

Brady said as the result of the federal and state disaster declarations families and small businesses devastated by the recent flooding are receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

However, the Congressman emphasized that there is more to do. “We cannot continue to lurch from one disaster to another. There are people who have been hit with severe flooding three times in the last five years.”

The Congressman also said he is frustrated by the delay in the buyout process for residents in Eastwick whose home were substantially damaged by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

The Congressman was largely responsible for securing FEMA funds for a buyout of homeowners in Eastwick whose properties were damaged by Hurricane Floyd. However, the Congressman said, “Here we are five years later and the buyout process is only limping along and many of the same residents have been hit again in the Augmost recent flooding.”

The City of Philadelphia has responsibility for the application for the federal buyout. In June, the City asked for a year’s extension to complete the process. Brady said he has written Mayor John Street to ask for a more intense follow-up so the buyout process can be completed and the affected residents can move on with their lives.

In the meantime, Congressman Brady urges all residents who suffered damage during the most recent storm to contact FEMA at 800-621-FEMA. Residents can also visit the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, 6904 Market St., Upper Darby, for information regarding housing assistance, business loans, rental resources and Small Business Administration loan applications.

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