2,000 Pa. National Guard troops assigned to storm response

The Lebanon County base of operations for the Pennsylvania National Guard’s storm response is taking orders for chainsaws, shelter cots, food, and water.

The command center at Fort Indiantown Gap was packed with people Tuesday as they coordinated missions with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

The Guard is tracking its costs on a daily basis, but Gov. Tom Corbett says it’s still too soon to release those figures or any early estimates of the financial cost of Sandy to Pennsylvania.

“We want to gather that information because we’ve got to turn that over to the federal government … hopefully we will be reimbursed for a lot,” Corbett said. “Because we have expended … state resources. I don’t know how much we’ve expended.”

The state could be reimbursed for certain things if President Barack Obama issues a major disaster declaration in Pennsylvania or in the states that used the commonwealth’s resources during storm recovery.

Nearly 2,000 Guard troops have been activated.

Corbett says the Guard’s aviation units will be on standby in case remote areas need to be surveyed from above for damage.