EDITORIAL: FEMA delivered when needed [The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.]

Dec. 22--Greg Bucanelli and four of his neighbors received a special Christmas delivery, courtesy of the federal government.

They have homes, temporary residences, but homes nonetheless.

While literally thousands of Valley residents suffered varying losses during the September flooding, the eastern Snyder County residents of the Isle of Que and Shady Nook were among the hardest hit.

Three months later, with costly repairs still uncompleted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency established temporary homes for the flood victims in a mobile home park in Middleburg.

"This is Christmas for me a week early," Bucanelli, 57, of Selinsgrove, said standing outside the 84-foot mobile home.

When Tropical Storm Lee first hit, Bucanelli said he had only about an inch of water in his house.

Then a nearby railroad bed, which separated his house from the Susquehanna River, broke loose. Six-and-a-half feet of water flooded the Bucanelli home.

The family lost everything.

Since the flood, the Bucanellis have been living in a 20-foot by 20-foot popup camper, with little easy access to many of the comforts of homes, such as, hot baths.

The damage at their home was so extensive, that though the Bucanelli said the property value was around $85,000, the cost of repairs was estimated at $150,000. While awaiting for the government aid and insurance payments, Bucanelli has been relying on the generosity of friends and relatives.

To those in need, help can probably never arrive soon enough. Standing inside his new FEMA-provided mobile home, Bucanelli was in no mood to second-guess the government response to the catastrophe that turned his life upside down.

The arrival of his new home was like Christmas come early, Bucanelli said.

The aid has arrived at a steady pace -- almost 2,500 Valley flood victims sharing $5.3 million in government disaster assistance. Statewide, FEMA, the Small Business Administration and other agencies provided more than $400 million in assistance to victims of Tropical Storm Lee.

As disruptive as the flooding was, it did not even register among the largest natural disasters in the U.S. this year.

The federal government said there were a dozen natural disasters in 2011 that caused more than $1 billion in damage. It was the worst year ever.

Despite the unprecedented scale of need across the country, by and large, FEMA delivered when needed in the wake of Tropical Storm Lee.

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(c)2011 The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.)

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