Montco still reeling; disaster declared in county seat
NORRISTOWN >> Nearly a week after the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the region with a vengeance, Norristown continues to pick up the pieces.
Members of the Norristown Municipal Council authorized an issuance of an emergency disaster declaration amid the storm during a meeting, Tuesday.
According to Solicitor Sean
Kilkenny, the order will permit the municipality to seek monetary assistance at the state and federal levels.
“This is a necessary step for council,” Kilkenny said.
The action was passed in a 6-0 vote. Councilwoman Heather Lewis was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
The storm had the nearby Schuylkill River in Norristown cresting to historic levels of roughly 26 feet, according to fig
ures from the National Weather Service.
When describing the extent of the flooding in Norristown, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas O’Donnell said in an interview last week that “Norristown looks like an island.”
The floodwaters may have receded, but officials acknowledged the toll the storm took.
“It was heartbreaking to see the damage on Main Street, and people getting displaced on the riverfront there at the apartments and … seeing our ballfields get destroyed just as we got them fixed again,” said Vice President Thomas Lepera. “It was all heartbreaking.”
Lepera referred to the flooding that plagued the county seat last year, especially the area of the Little League fields and Latshaw/McCarthy field, when Tropical Storm Isaias brought heavy rainfall, flooding and damage.
Norristown officials had been working on restoring the recreation center and baseball fields that were impacted.
“Last year, with the flooding that we had, I thought that was crazy, and they were calling it a ‘once in a 100-year storm,’ and for it to happen again a year later, just on a national scale, you have to recognize the climate change that we have been experiencing, and try to work through it,” Lepera told The Times Herald.
For this most recent storm, President Derrick Perry noted how “Hurricane Ida devastated a lot of communities,” and “we want to send our thoughts and prayers to all those people who were affected.”
Councilman Hakim Jones agreed.
“It’s tough to see,” he said. “[People] losing their cars, their homes and I’m just glad there are some community efforts that are trying to help people get back on their feet.”
To that end, the American Red Cross opened a shelter last week at Norristown High School, located at 1900 Eagle Drive.
According to Dave Skutnik, regional communications director for the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania, 125 people have stayed at the facility overnight.
“The Norristown shelter will remain open for as long as it’s needed,” Skutnik told Media News Group. “We’re hopeful that the resource center open in Norristown today and tomorrow will get the shelter residents the resources they need to begin their recovery from this disaster.”
Skutnik referenced a multi-resource agency center (MARC) that opened Wednesday morning at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, located at 2 W. Lafayette St. in Norristown.
A number of local, state and county agencies will be on the premises assisting those impacted by the storm. The site will be open from 12-7 p.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Additionally, local property whose residences and businesses sustained damage from the storm could soon feel some relief as the recovery efforts continue. Municipal officials announced during Tuesday night’s council meeting that permit fees would be waived.
“In an effort to assist property owners, business owners, and the residents of Norristown, Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones has authorized the department to waive all permit fees to help simplify and facilitate the clean-up and recovery process,” said Norristown Code Enforcement Manager and Building Code Official Amrinder Singh in a statement. “Our team will work hard to ensure that all permit applications are reviewed and processed rapidly, and inspection requests are performed expeditiously so that properties can be re-occupied as quickly as possible.”
Singh clarified that property owners would still need to obtain the necessary paperwork and report any damage to the county and municipality.
More information can be found at norristown. org, montcopa.org/ida or at the building and code enforcement department. To contact the department, call 610-270-0441 or visit the facility, located at 1700 Markley St.
When reflecting on the events of the past week, Jones said he was “very shocked” by the sheer volume of rain, flooding and damage that has rocked the area.
He expressed his concern “for the families who are along the river.”
“Some folks didn’t get as much damage as others but it seems like the areas that got really hit just happened to be some vulnerable people in our community,” Jones told The Times Herald. “Stuff you normally see on the weather channel in the Midwest and in the South, but it’s happening here in the Northeast.”