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River Flood Gauge Fight Not Over Yet

River Flood Gauge Fight Not Over Yet - Monday, September 29, 2008 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Dave Skutnik
Monday, Sep 29, 2008 @ 06:00pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- The federal bailout isn't the only funding fight going on. We've got one brewing right here in our own backyard. Federal funding is set to dry up Tuesday for some river flood gauges in our area. Emergency officials warn it could cause confusion, even chaos, the next time there's a flood.

The funding fight is over a dozen or so river gauges in our region that tell us how high the rivers are. The most important of these gauges is the one in Wilkes-Barre, a gauge that people in the Wyoming Valley count on every time it rains.

Flood warnings are very important to these people because you're talking about their homes," said Jim Brozena, Executive Director of the Luzerne County Protection Authority.

And it's those flood warnings that could be in jeopardy. Several weeks ago it was announced that federal funding was drying up, meaning live river level data could go away.

River levels are critical when making decisions during a flood. Without that data, river level forecasts would be less accurate, or could even go away entirely.

"There's a major difference between 28 feet and 30 feet and 32 feet as to the amount of people that are impacted."

"That's going to make our jobs much more difficult because we're going to have to make decisions much earlier," said Steve Bekanich of the Luzerne County EMA.

Making decisions earlier, including about evacuations, would force officials to play more of a "better to be safe than sorry" approach.

"Our biggest concern is that if we cry wolf one too many times somebody's going to say, 'well these guys aren't sure what's going on, I'm staying,’” explained Bekanich.

He says not having the data accessible to the public would cause a big increase in calls to the EMA for information, tying up emergency communications. "Not having that information on the internet will just increase those calls. Will it bog down the system? I'm sure it will," he said.

Local officials vow to do whatever they can to keep the gauges up and running, but say mixed messages from the feds are causing even more confusion. FEMA wants to improve flood protection, but doesn't want to pay for it.

"Do it with someone else's money is basically what they're saying and unfortunately that is a mixed message,” added Brozena.

Money is already being kicked in at the state and local levels, so they're not sure where the extra money will come from.

Again that funding is set to run out Tuesday. However a meeting is being held in Harrisburg trying to come up with new funding to keep the river data flowing.

 


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