Will Pennsylvania act before the next storm?
Only a few days later, much of the Lehigh Valley has moved on from Tropical Storm Isaias. When the barricades come down and roads are reopened, when water recedes from parking lots and dries up from lawns, unless our home or business was damaged, it’s easy to put the flooding behind us.
That’s the problem.
We’ve become too accepting of it. During heavy rains, we’re used to the
Musikfest grounds along the Monocacy Creek being swamped. We’re used to
Lehigh Street becoming a lake at the entrance to the
South Mall in Salisbury
Township. We’re used to the Bushkill Creek roaring out of its banks in Forks
Township.
We refuse to recognize that things can be done to prevent or minimize flash-flooding, and possibly save lives.
Public officials say it’s important, but it’s never important enough for them to spend the money on it. In a world of competing priorities, there always seems to be a higher priority.
People won’t think about the fast-moving, fast-rising waters again until the next bad storm. Then, again, it soon will be forgotten, unless you get hit personally.
It’s time to stop that cycle.
Gov. Tom Wolf has a plan that would help, but state lawmakers have refused to implement it.
Last year, Wolf proposed $4.5 billion in spending over four years to beef up the state’s infrastructure. His “Restore Pennsylvania” proposal includes improving flood-prone streams and rivers.
“We’ve had these issues all over the place and right now you can’t do anything except say, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’” Wolf said when he floated the plan in January 2019. “I want to do more than say, ‘Sorry for your loss.’”
He suggests restoring floodplains, making room for water from overflowing streams to spread out, slow down and be absorbed into the ground. He suggests adding and upgrading dams, flood walls and levees. He suggests restoring stream banks, and then maintaining them.
The package would create a disaster relief fund to help flood victims pay for repairs that aren’t covered by insurance or federal disaster loans or grants. And it would give municipalities money to manage stormwater runoff.
Restore Pennsylvania has been endorsed by 60 local governments, public officials and organizations including Allentown City Council, Bethlehem City Council and Northampton County Council.
Wolf renewed his calls for the plan this year and legislation is pending in the House and Senate to make it happen. More than 90 representatives have signed onto the House bill, including a dozen Republicans. But the Republican leadership of those chambers hasn’t shown interest in moving either bill.
That’s because Wolf, a Democrat, proposes funding it with a severance tax on the natural gas industry.
Pennsylvania remains the only fracking state without a severance tax. The state instead levies an impact fee., which yields less than a tax would because it’s a set fee per well and doesn’t account for the cost or volume of gas extracted.
The Legislature has refused Wolf’s repeated requests to add that tax onto drillers since his first term began in 2015. Opposition has held more steady and steadfast in the GOP-controlled House than the GOP-controlled Senate, which approved a severance tax in 2017.
Wolf ’s Restore Pennsylvania plan would address other infrastructure needs, too. It would extend high-speed internet to poor urban areas and far-flung rural communities, a need that’s become more evident as students are taking classes from home and parents are working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Restore Pennsylvania also would make it easier to develop blighted properties, among other things.
With the state’s economy floundering because of the coronavirus pandemic, levying a new tax this year would be a difficult sell.
But not taking action comes with costs, too. After every flood, state and local governments must repair roads and bridges. Homeowners and businesses must pay to fix properties and replace belongings if their insurance won’t cover the damage.
According to Wolf’s office, about $63 million in public infrastructure damage from flooding was not reimbursable through federal disaster programs in 2018. That means state and local taxpayers bore the full burden of picking up the tab.
It’s often the same roads and bridges that get washed out. It makes no sense for taxpayers to pay to repeatedly repair them, when the damage could be avoided or reduced with one flood-prevention project.
Granted, not all flooding can be prevented.
During extreme weather, there’s just too much water. Tropical Storm Isaias dumped six or seven inches of rain in some parts of the Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. The Little Lehigh Creek near Allentown crested at 12.76 feet, beating the previous record of 11.8 feet set during Hurricane Agnes in June 1972.
Mitigation work could reduce the damage, though.
We can’t wait forever to do something about it, because all signs point toward flooding problems becoming worse, as our climate changes.
Pennsylvania is getting wetter. The 48 months between June 2015 and June 2019 were the wettest in state history, and the five warmest summers have been the past five summers, according to a report in November from Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
There has been a 10% increase in precipitation over the last 50 years and by 2050, precipitation is projected to be 8% more than it is now, according to Wolf ’s office.
The sun may be shining today. But it’s time to start preparing for the next really rainy day.