Pennsylvania legislators seek federal aid for Susquehanna River flooding

Pennsylvania legislators are calling on Pres. Barack Obama to provide federal assistance for the Susquehanna River flood clean-up.

Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey and Congress members Tim Holden, Charlie Dent, Mike Doyle, Tom Marino, Joe Pitts, Lou Barletta, Allyson Schwartz, Todd Platts, Jason Altmire, Tim Murphy, Glenn “GT” Thompson and Jim Gerlach have written to Obama to ask support for the disaster declaration in parts of the state.

“Pennsylvanian Governor Tom Corbett has formally requested the designation of a federal disaster in the area.  We write to strongly urge you to expedite your review of this request and approve it without delay, ” the letter reads. “Given the severity of the damage inflicted on these communities by the floods, we respectfully ask that you move quickly to expedite the positive consideration of this request.”

Thousands were evacuated from Harrisburg yesterday as the river rose, and businesses were asked to close for the weekend.