A Congress Members Endorse Federal Disaster Request 

U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representatives Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6), Susan Wild (D-PA-7), Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) sent a bipartisan letter to President Joe Biden urging him to approve Gov. Josh Shapiro’s request for a major disaster declaration to assist in recovery efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby.  

Earlier this month, Gov. Shapiro amended the proclamation of disaster emergency resulting in 28 counties now falling under the proclamation (Adams, Bedford, Berks, Bradford, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Cumberland, Dauphin, Elk, Fulton, Indiana, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Pike, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, and Wyoming). The governor’s proclamation makes $5 million available in state dollars to help with immediate response and recovery efforts.  

Affected townships must participate in the preliminary damage assessment to identify damage and coordinate with county emergency management agencies as soon as possible to help the county and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency determine if the affected counties are eligible for federal funding through a presidential declaration. Affected townships are also urged to verify that their SAM.gov registration is in active status. PEMA’s Emergency Management for Municipal Officials Handbook includes tip sheets, damage assessment forms, and local disaster declarations and extensions.