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By ANTHONY COLAROSSI; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, January 28, 1996 Page: 3A
Bearing nearly $1 million in flood relief checks for two communities and
suggesting further federal assistance in the weeks to come, HUD Secretary
Henry Cisneros sped through dampened Luzerne County on Saturday.
Cisneros is the latest member of President Clinton’s Cabinet to visit the
region since the Flood of 1996 ravaged many communities last weekend.
“President Clinton has directed us to weigh in with a response,” Cisneros
told government officials and reporters who met him at the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport early Saturday afternoon. “It
really is incumbent on us to make the resources of government work.”
Cisneros backed up those words with $916,000 in unexpended Urban Renewal
Grants for two of the communities hit hardest by the flooding. Hanover
Township received a $266,000 check and Shickshinny was presented a $650,000
check.
The surplus funds were earmarked for Luzerne County during the 1970s but
never used, Cisneros said. The Department Housing and Urban Development’s
general counsel exercised a “compassionate interpretation” of the law to free
the funds, he said.
The money may be used for long-term, public flood protection and prevention
measures, Cisneros said.
“The communities can use them as their local planning dictates,” he said.
However, he said the money should not duplicate assistance provided by other
federal agencies.
“These funds can literally be available within a week,” Cisneros told
Shickshinny Mayor Donald Hargraves.
Shickshinny was one of five stops Cisneros made as he toured the area with
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski and met with local, county and state officials.
Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, urged Shickshinny officials to use their funding as
“leverage money” to secure further state and federal dollars.
“I bet you we had over $1 million worth of damage in Shickshinny,” said
Hargraves, who explained that while the borough desperately needs relief, he
is not sure exactly how the federal funds awarded Saturday will be spent.
Hargraves and Shickshinny residents argued the only solution to their
perpetual flooding problems is a government buyout of flood-prone properties.
“The sentiments of the people right now are: They don’t want dikes. They
want out,” Hargraves said. “It’s the only solution that we have. We’re mad as
hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”
Earlier in the day, Cisneros met with officials and residents in Avoca who
still are recovering from flooding along Mill Creek.
He also toured Truesdale Terrace in Hanover Township, where the Regional
Equipment Center installed a pontoon bridge, providing access for about 200
residents in that area. An existing bridge was damaged by flood waters.
Kanjorski also brought Cisneros to the Kanjorski Building in downtown
Nanticoke. Although the home of the data processing unit of the Traveler’s
Insurance Co. was not affected by the flood, its construction was made
possible through a special purpose grant administered by HUD.
“By touring the area, (Cisneros) will develop a deeper understanding of our
problems, which he can take back to the president to help find solutions,”
Kanjorski said.
Cisneros ended his tour at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where he met
with Mayor Tom McGroarty and hospital administrators. The hospital was
evacuated Jan. 19 and 20, after its first floor was inundated on Jan. 19 with
water from Solomon Creek.
TIMES LEADER/LEWIS GEYER
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, left, and Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development Henry Cisneros visit the Commerce and McAlpine street area of
Avoca, one of several stops they made Saturday to see flood damage firsthand.