Paying for Irene

Many people are saying that Hurricaine Irene was less than advertised. Tell that to the families of the people who were killed or suffered significant property damage. Our neck of the woods was spared major damage for the most part although Harveys Lake and Wyoming County and points north took some hard hits. I kept getting updates from Congressman Lou Barletta's office yesterday about his tour of the damage and alerting me to his press availabilities.


Good morning. Representative Barletta is touring flood damage in the 11th District today.There will be media availability with Rep. Barletta at The Shawnee Inn, River Road, Shawnee on Delaware, at noon.

Barletta media availability

Rep. Barletta will be at the Luzerne County EMA building on River Street, Wilkes-Barre, at about 3 p.m. to talk to the media about Hurricane Irene damage

He put out a statement earlier

HAZLETON – U.S. Representative Lou Barletta, PA-11, issued the following statement in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which impacted all five counties of his congressional district:

I want to extend my condolences to the families of those who were killed here in Northeastern Pennsylvania during this storm. They and their families will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Many parts of the 11th Congressional District have felt the impact of Hurricane Irene’s strong winds and heavy rain. Thousands of people are without power, and some will remain that way for days. Some cannot access roads or bridges. Some have seen personal property destroyed, while others are still threatened with the loss of their property.

My office has received – and will continue to receive – updates and briefings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service, and other federal and state agencies in order to ensure the safety of the residents of the 11th Congressional District.

I will work with those agencies to make sure the federal government provides the appropriate response to this natural disaster. I will tour storm-damaged areas starting Monday morning so I can see first-hand the damage caused by Hurricane Irene, and will relay my observations and concerns at the federal level.

Sunday evening, Governor Tom Corbett asked President Obama to make a Presidential Disaster Declaration for several Pennsylvania counties, including Monroe County. Based on the firsthand reports I received from Monroe County officials, I fully support that declaration, and I will send a letter of support for that declaration to the president
Rep. Barletta will be at the Luzerne County EMA building on River Street, Wilkes-Barre, at about 3 p.m. to talk to the media about Hurricane Irene damage.


Lou Barletta is doing what he is supposed to do but getting help for the people who suffered damage may be tough to get.

Hurricane Irene relief funding sets up budget fight


Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate has declined to predict how much recovery efforts from Hurricane Irene will cost, but with widespread damage along the East Coast, it could run well into the billions. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that whatever bills the federal government racks up paying for the recovery efforts will have to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere.


I'm all for Congress establishing a permanent disaster fund but they haven't done it so you have to deal with the latest storm.

Steve Benen says it better than I

And in case this story isn’t quite mind-numbing enough, also note that FEMA has been forced to temporarily suspend “some payments to rebuild roads, schools and other structures destroyed during spring tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and Southern states and other recent natural disasters” in order to respond to Hurricane Irene.

That this is happening in the wealthiest nation in the world, simply because the Republican Party has been taken over by charlatans and fools, is a national disgrace.

For all of our differences over party, ideology, and creed, we know that when disaster strikes and our neighbors face a genuine emergency, America responds. We don’t ask what’s in it for us; we don’t weigh the political considerations; we don’t pause to ponder the larger ideological implications.

We act. It’s who we are; it’s what we do.

Or it was, right up until Americans elected a radicalized House majority.


I have asked Barletta's spokesman if he agrees with Cantor. I await his response.