Westmoreland issues disaster declaration for high rainfall that caused at least $1.4 million in damage

May 31--Local municipalities could have a big hole to fill if federal money is not made available to help them recover from damages caused by record-setting precipitation this year.

Officials expect that millions of dollars will have to be spent to remedy landslides around Westmoreland County resulting from heavy rain and snow between February 15 and April 20.

Michael Turley, assistant manager in North Huntingdon, expects two landslides on Haywood Road to cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix.

County commissioners this week issued a disaster declaration and asked Gov. Tom Wolf to request that President Trump follow suit. If Trump would issue a disaster declaration for the county, federal dollars could assist municipalities with costs ranging from engineering studies to construction work, said Bud Mertz, county public safety director.

But, there are no guarantees.

"There's no other help for (municipalities) with the exception of having the federal assistance," Mertz said.

It was the wettest start ever to a year in the Pittsburgh region, according to the National Weather Service in Moon.

By April 7 , the region had seen 16.18 inches of rain and snow. The normal for that time frame is 8.87 inches.

By May 19, the region had seen almost 20 inches of precipitation for the year, well above the average of 13.29 inches, according to the weather service.

State and federal emergency management officials last week toured damages in North and South Huntingdon and Rostraver townships, Mertz said. They determined that damage repairs in those areas will cost about $1.4 million, a figure that makes the county eligible for federal help.

Allegheny County officials are also seeking a federal disaster declaration to help repair a spate of landslides there, including a major one on Route 30 in East Pittsburgh that has left the highway closed for nearly two months.

Westmoreland officials have sent to the state emergency management agency documentation from geologists about Western Pennsylvania's ground composition and the National Weather Service showing that the snow and rain were the result of one weather pattern spanning two months, Mertz said.

"The problem is the damage became worse and worse as time went on," he said.

That was the case on Haywood Road, where two landslides have reduced traffic to one narrow lane, Turley said. Those landslides are still being assessed and financial assistance would be a huge help.

"It runs the risk of getting worse," Turley said. "It's not just what you see as a slide, it's what's unstable underneath."

Coal Hollow Road in Rostraver and Jacobs Creek Road in South Huntingdon have also been affected, Mertz said. Both are state roads.

If the declaration is approved by Trump, county officials will meet with all municipalities to determine an exact cost for damages, assessments and repairs.

"We know that there's going to be more municipalities," including Upper Burrell and Jeannette, Mertz said.

Trump has denied a disaster declaration request from Wolf before. A May 2017 request for help after a crippling two-day March snowstorm in the northeastern part of the state was rejected.

If Westmoreland's request is denied, municipalities would have to cut into their budgets or savings or possibly seek loans.

"I don't want to create false hope for municipalities," Mertz said. "The final decision's out of our hands."

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.

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