Fema

The police investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at the Volunteer Fire Company of Halfway, Md., has hit a snag. The problem - getting the federal government to respond. "We're still waiting on information from the federal government," lead investigator Scott Bare, a senior trooper with Maryland State Police, said this month. Months ago, Bare said, he requested information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that he needs for part of the investigation.

Much of the Sportsman's Paradise community along the Potomac River in Berkeley County is far from "almost heaven. " But recent cleanup efforts and government-sponsored buyouts of flood-prone property in the long-defunct subdivision off Broad Lane in Falling Waters have made a difference, said Donna Seiler, the county code enforcement and litter control officer. "This house has been set on fire three times," Seiler said Friday while driving past the burned-out remains of a Scott Drive residence in the community.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set up shop at Lowe's Home Improvement Center, 1600 Lincoln Way East, this week to give advice on repairing flood-damaged properties and lessening chances of future flood damage. "We're trying to identify folks that have had flood damage. This is an outreach," said Mary Ann Basarab, a hazard mitigation adviser with FEMA. While advising on issues such as mold and water, she said, "we can introduce them to the National Flood Insurance Program.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com TRI-STATE - The remnants of Hurricane Ivan quickly tore through the Tri-State area more than a week ago, but for some residents, anguish and problems associated with the storm will last much longer. A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman said Monday the agency wants to help. Residents of Berkeley and Morgan counties in West Virginia and Franklin and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania who had property damaged in the storm may call and register with FEMA at 800-621-3362.

tarar@herald-mail.com Washington County was prepared to set up a mass shelter for 100 to 125 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but those plans are off the table. The Federal Emergency Management Agency told the county's emergency authorities Tuesday it won't be sending a large number of Gulf Coast evacuees here. County Emergency Management Coordinator Verna Brown said some evacuees still might come to the county on their own or through relief agencies, but it wouldn't be through FEMA's mass sheltering procedures.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Public roads and utilities in Franklin County sustained approximately $450,000 in damage last month, according to preliminary estimates, making municipalities and other entities eligible for disaster relief. The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday amended the disaster declaration for the county to include public assistance funding, county Emergency Services Director Jerry Flasher said Thursday. "This allows the county to access federal public assistance funding which provides cost reimbursement aid to local governments and certain private, nonprofit agencies, educational institutions, utilities, emergency services, medical facilities, custodial care facilities, and other health and safety services," Flasher said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Whether they want it or not, most residents in the Pikeview West subdivision pay more than $600 a year for flood insurance because of a Federal Emergency Management Agency requirement, according to homeowners' association secretary Paul Gavin. That requirement is based on flood studies flawed by incomplete data, said Gavin, who asked the Berkeley County Commission on Thursday to help his group's effort to get the area restudied. "There's never been any reported flooding in the area," said Gavin, who has lived in the subdivision off U.S. 11 around Evans Run since 1984.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Laura DiPasqua was packing up Wednesday at Chambersburg Area Middle School, the last day of the American Red Cross service delivery site for victims of the flooding in late June. "We actually provided services to about 155 families," said DiPasqua, who came to the area July 3 from the Greater Erie Chapter. That day, the first Red Cross mobile feeding units arrived, and they eventually served 800 or more meals a day to residents forced from their homes until utilities were restored and they could begin preparing their own meals again, she said.

For the first time since its opening in 1991, Children's Village of Washington County is holding life safety classes for out-of-county students. Two second-grade classes from the Greencastle-Antrim School District in Pennsylvania attended Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a $75,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant awarded to the Village in 2001. Two classes from the Waynesboro (Pa.) School District will be at the Village on April 23 and 24. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to offer these classes to neighboring schools," said Rochelle Morrell, development director for Children's Village.

By DON AINES Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARLOWE, W.Va. - It could be Sportsman's Paradise lost - or at least sold - for more than two dozen property owners of the Potomac River subdivision who have agreed to participate in a federal buyout program of flood-prone lands. Berkeley County Commission president Jim Smith said Wednesday that about 30 property owners in the development have come to terms with the county on a sale price for their land in the low-lying subdivision.

Berkeley County residents or anyone traveling in the county may soon be able to receive text-message-style alerts on their cellphones about extreme weather and other emergencies. The Berkeley County Council is mulling whether the county should enter an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use the Internet-based Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS. Established by a 2006 executive order of President George W. Bush, the warning system is already available for use by the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and several southern West Virginia counties, according to IPAWS engineering branch chief Mark Lucero, who gave a presentation to the council Thursday about how the system works.

Crystal Brown of Hagerstown is one of 177 Denver-based young people serving in the nation's first class of FEMA Corps, a new unit of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps devoted to disaster preparedness and response. During her 10-month term of service, Brown, 24, is providing support to disaster survivors and gaining training and professional experience in emergency management. Serving on teams of 10 to 12 people, FEMA Corps members travel to disaster-affected communities and support longer-term recovery operations across the country.

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission (EDC) is working with the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development (DBED) to assess storm-related business property damage in Washington County. Business owners in Washington County who suffered any physical damage from this week's storm may contact the EDC to report the loss by calling 240-313-2280 or sending email to edcinfo@hagerstownedc.org , the county said in a news release.

Members of the West Virginia Air National Guard based in Berkeley County are flying bucket trucks and other equipment from Phoenix, Ariz., to a guard base in Newburgh, N.Y., to assist in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts in the Northeast. Four loads of equipment are due to be transported by the Guard unit's C-5 aircraft beginning Friday, said Col. Roger Nye, commander of the 167th Airlift Wing. In a separate relief mission, more than 90 members of the West Virginia National Guard are distributing food and water from the base at Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport to thousands of residents in areas where deep, wet snow from the storm downed trees, blocked roads and left them without power.

Even after extensive work over the past few months to address the issue, flooding of the West Memorial Boulevard railroad underpass remains a problem, a city official said Friday. Eric Deike, manager of the city's Public Works Department, said in an email that the roadway is still subject to flooding, although the blocked stormwater drain under the street has technically been fixed. “Under short, heavy rains, the underpass still floods,” he said. “The underdrain was modified in 2008 to empty directly into Marsh Run. When Marsh Run floods due to the sudden, heavy rainfall ... the underdrain has no place to flow.” This is because Marsh Run, which runs parallel to Memorial Boulevard as it heads east from City Park toward Antietam Creek, is the collector for rainwater runoff from the streets and it floods quickly, Deike said.

The Chambersburg Borough Council announced Monday it has received a federal grant for what the borough manager describes as “one of the most important programs developed by the Chambersburg Fire Department.” Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., assisted the borough in obtaining $65,430 from a Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, Fire Prevention and Life Safety Education grant. It will be used to continue the installation of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as to train citizens in fire prevention.

The police investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at the Volunteer Fire Company of Halfway, Md., has hit a snag. The problem - getting the federal government to respond. "We're still waiting on information from the federal government," lead investigator Scott Bare, a senior trooper with Maryland State Police, said this month. Months ago, Bare said, he requested information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that he needs for part of the investigation.

Much of the Sportsman's Paradise community along the Potomac River in Berkeley County is far from "almost heaven. " But recent cleanup efforts and government-sponsored buyouts of flood-prone property in the long-defunct subdivision off Broad Lane in Falling Waters have made a difference, said Donna Seiler, the county code enforcement and litter control officer. "This house has been set on fire three times," Seiler said Friday while driving past the burned-out remains of a Scott Drive residence in the community.

The disaster season is upon us — with floods, hurricanes until late fall and earthquakes at any time — accompanied by the drama, misery and expense they bring. What will the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its state partners dole out this year in disaster assistance? Let’s focus on the federal effort, although how well the states do their part is key to an effective response. It should be noted that state response capability is uneven. If you must be part of a disaster, you are better off in California, Florida, Minnesota or Washington than you are in Mississippi, Louisiana or Arkansas (Maryland is in the lower half of the top 25 states)

The smaller winter storms that blanketed Washington County recently might be more tolerable than last winter's blizzards, but they are threatening local snow-removal budgets. Based on midwinter assessments, some governmental jurisdictions are likely to exceed fiscal year 2011 budgeted expenses for materials needed to keep streets passable. "Small storm or big storm, you have to treat the roads," said Eric Deike, Hagerstown's manager of public works. Many jurisdictions exceeded or doubled budgeted expenses for snow removal last winter.