Official: U.S. disaster relief unlikely

The state has sent equipment and manpower, but legislators are looking for financial help.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CLARK, Pa. -- The director of Mercer County's Public Safety Department doesn't think the borough will get any federal government help cleaning up after Sunday's tornado.
If Clark were going to get a federal disaster declaration, it would have come by now, Jim Thompson said late Wednesday morning.
"I'm very disappointed that Washington hasn't paid more attention to us. It's a numbers game," he said.
There has yet to be an estimate of the dollar loss, but a disaster survey team determined that 12 houses were destroyed, 12 more suffered major damage, 28 suffered minor damage and 68 suffered very minor damage.
However, of all that number, only one was found to be uninsured, Thompson said. That hurt the effort to get a federal disaster declaration, which would have resulted in government aid in the cleanup, he said, explaining the declaration is basically driven by individual losses.
If those who suffered loss had no insurance or were underinsured, the area would have a better chance of securing a declaration. In this case, insurance companies will pick up the brunt of the repair and replacement work, Thompson said.
Other expenses
That still leaves a bill for police services from other departments that have been providing manpower to control the damaged area here and in neighboring South Pymatuning Township, which also suffered damage from the storm.
The police overtime bill passed $10,000 Tuesday afternoon and was still rising, and there could be unforeseen expenses presented to the borough at a later date.
Mayor Douglas Bradley said Clark has been receiving a lot of free help from surrounding municipalities that are providing dump trucks, backhoes and other equipment to move debris.
Although the federal government might not help, the state has pitched in with equipment from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection and labor from the Department of Corrections, which sent 15 community service program prisoners from the State Regional Correctional Facility at Mercer to help with the effort, Bradley said.
State legislators from this region have asked for a detailed list of overtime and related costs in hopes of finding state funds to help, the mayor said.
Clark, a town of 630 people with a budget of $205,000 for 2003, has $900 in unappropriated surplus to cover emergency expenses, Bradley said.
The storm also damaged buildings in Sharon and Delaware Township.
Death, injuries
It killed Charles E. Templeton, 81, of 22 Milton St., Clark, and left his wife, Georgette, 85, hospitalized in Sharon Regional Health System where she remains in satisfactory condition.
It also hospitalized their neighbor, Eli Paczak, 76, of 2775 Lake Road, who remains in St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown.
Eighteen people were hurt when the tornado touched down around 7:45 p.m., but most suffered only minor injuries.
Officials said they had no official complaints of scam artists making their way into the devastated area but warned that homeowners should exercise caution in contracting for repairs.
Thompson said his office was putting out a list of questions homeowners should ask prospective repairmen before signing agreements.
There had been rumors that some homeowners were being asked to sign exorbitant contracts for tree removals, but both Bradley and Thompson said they had heard no such complaints.
Volunteering services
They have heard about a lot of people who just showed up to volunteer their time and labor, like the man who heard about the storm and drove from Salem, Ohio, at midmorning Tuesday, stopping at the home of Matt and Tricia Mueller on Milton Street.
He said nothing to anyone but got out of his truck and joined a group of men moving limbs and other debris, working alongside them for hours until they finally realized no one knew who he was.
"I asked him how we can thank him," Mueller recalled, noting that the man simply replied that he should pass the kindness along to someone else in need some day.
There were a dozen dump trucks and a number of backhoes and two wood chippers on the scene at 8 a.m. Wednesday from neighboring municipalities, and the borough was hard-pressed to get enough people to run them, Bradley said, noting the fire department put out a call to other volunteer fire companies asking for volunteers to come in.
Even some contractors are working for free, Thompson said.
"We have had a tremendous amount of support," Bradley said, adding there have also been a lot of calls offering financial support.
A nightly curfew of 9:30 was enacted effective Wednesday, but Bradley said that wasn't because authorities feared looters. It was more of a safety factor because there is still a lot of debris, holes, ruts from rescue and repair vehicles and other hazards that are hard to see in the dark, he said.