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The Small Business Administration (SBA) will be opening a disaster loan outreach center at the Woodward Township Municipal Building to assist anyone in the county who suffered property damage from the weather event on Sept. 3. Contrary to its name, SBA programs are not just for small businesses.
"We have a lot of homes that were devastated -- foundations, runoffs. We had an opportunity to tour in Woodward (Township) along with stuff that's going on in South Side, and I'm grateful to announce that the state declaration or disaster loan outreach program has been approved," Director of Public Safety Forest Rothchild told the Lycoming County commissioners at their meeting this week.
"Basically, the recovery has shifted from damage assessment to assistance now," Rothchild said.
He stressed that this is for every resident who experienced damage from the storm, not just those in Woodward Township.
"Every affected resident should come in and ask what help is available," he said.
The National Weather Service reported that the area received anywhere from three to seven inches of rain in certain portions with flooding across the central and western Lycoming County. "We saw damaged homes, basements, roadways, and other property. Some residents were displaced. Many are still working through the cleanup, repair, insurance, and financial impact," Rothchild said.
Following the storm, the county had issued a disaster declaration which Rothchild noted preserves access to state and federal recovery assistance. Local municipalities also issue disaster declarations.
Rothchild said that is important because some of the recovery programs evaluate the eligibility of a municipal level
"Federal SBA assistance follows its own regulatory requirements," he explained.
The outreach center will be in operation approximately two weeks running from 8 a.,m. To 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
"Anybody who, whether its homeowners, renters, businesses, eligible profit or nonprofit organizations, should attend. SBA is not for business only, so do not assume that you are ineligible. Please ask," Rothchild said.
"Please come and seek any assistance if needed. We're here to help the residents navigate this recovery process, where to go, who to speak with, and what resources are available. We cannot promise which programs residents will be qualified for or what assistance they will receive," he said.
He thanked the commissioners who had recently visited some of the affected areas.
"The leadership on the ground tells the residents that their concerns are being heard, and that they were not forgotten once the emergency passed," Rothchild said.
"To the residents, we're still here. We're here working with you through the recovery. If your home or property was damaged, or if you do not know where to start, reach out...talk with us and the SBA. Our goal: help every affected resident find the legitimate assistance available to repair, replace, and move forward," he said.
Rothchild noted that there will be flyers distributed at key locations, particularly in those communities that had disaster declarations.
"We're going to drop them off to the libraries. We're going to have several thousands of these made available. We're also going to be doing a social media campaign that will pair with not only our the county, but each of the municipalities and the fire departments with a unified message of the resource that will be available, along with a presser that's going to be going out to our media outlets, so they have all that resource available. To that extent, if you are impacted, know that there's resources available," he said.
The commissioners encouraged anyone who had any damage, even if it's minor to visit the outreach center.
"Please reach out because it helps the overall total. It helps us to know what damage there was in what areas. Just please don't stay silent. Come out and tell us what happened to your home," Commissioner Scott Metzger said.
Both Metzger and Commissioner Marc Sortman brought up the condition of some of the local streams which may have contributed to the flooding.
"We talk about the flood damage, but I want to touch upon the cause. Some of the causes...are there's barges of stone and debris that have grown over the years," said Sortman.
He said that he understands DEP's point of view that you don't go in and dredge that, but he argued that not cleaning out the debris affects the waterways.
Metzger commented that "one of the frustrating things is that we continue to see more evidence of where streams need to be cleaned up. You know, debris and downed trees, and the common sense logic is that we go in there and remove this stuff, and it's not being permitted by the state."
"This is a very frustrating part of flooding. If they can go in there and clean these streams up, I don't think we'd have half the damage that we experience. Streams that are naturally meant to flow a certain way are being blocked, and water's going to go by the path of least resistance, and it's going into different areas. A lot of it goes into these homes and we'll continue to express that to the state," Metzger said.
The entrance to the Woodward Township Municipal Building is at 89 Moore Road Extension. The building sits at the intersection of Route 220 and Quenshukney Road.