Red Tape and Relief Even though the implementations of non-structural flood mitigation were gaining recognition, they continued to be a secondary method to that of structural methods. All existing measures of flood mitigation, disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery were thoroughly tested when Tropical Storm Agnes brought unprecedented amounts of rainfall to Central Pennsylvania. The towns and cities within the Susquehanna Valley ravaged by flooding far more resembled the carnage of war than a place called home. Although no matter how well prepared the citizens of the Susquehanna Valley could have been, adequate measures to combat the extent of destruction from Agnes could never have been developed. Following the President Nixon’s tour of Harrisburg, he demanded that the Office of Emergency Preparedness and all other agencies all Federal assistance needed, and do it “provide immediately by cutting through red tape.” Similarly at the state level, Governor Shapp sent out a memo to all state employees to exercise the broadest discretion in the elimination “administrative of red tape” and to allow any possible resources available to those in need. A few days after the President visited Harrisburg, Governor Shapp stated that he was getting and zero “double-talk action” when referring to the federal government’s inability to cut through red-tape to speedily provide flood relief. Although both the President and the Governor urged the elimination of the sense of urgency could not instantaneously eliminate measures of standard operating procedures within these existing agencies. Flood victims and politicians alike had developed unrealistic expectations about the capabilities of state and federal agencies to flawlessly distribute assistance into Central Pennsylvania. While state and federal governments quarreled over policy and pointed fingers, the citizens of Pennsylvania were simultaneously developing a collective memory of unwanted
Red Tape and Relief Even though the implementations of non-structural flood mitigation were gaining recognition, they continued to be a secondary method to that of structural methods. All existing measures of flood mitigation, disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery were thoroughly tested when Tropical Storm Agnes brought unprecedented amounts of rainfall to Central Pennsylvania. The towns and cities within the Susquehanna Valley ravaged by flooding far more resembled the carnage of war than a place called home. Although no matter how well prepared the citizens of the Susquehanna Valley could have been, adequate measures to combat the extent of destruction from Agnes could never have been developed. Following the President Nixon’s tour of Harrisburg, he demanded that the Office of Emergency Preparedness and all other agencies “provide all Federal assistance needed, and do it immediately by cutting through red tape.” Similarly at the state level, Governor Shapp sent out a memo to all state employees to exercise the broadest “administrative discretion in the elimination of red tape” and to allow any possible resources available to those in need. A few days after the President visited Harrisburg, Governor Shapp stated that he was getting “double-talk and zero action” when referring to the federal government’s inability to cut through red-tape to speedily provide flood relief. Although both the President and the Governor urged the elimination of the sense of urgency could not instantaneously eliminate measures of standard operating procedures within these existing agencies. Flood victims and politicians alike had developed unrealistic expectations about the capabilities of state and federal agencies to flawlessly distribute assistance into Central Pennsylvania. While state and federal governments quarreled over policy and pointed fingers, the citizens of Pennsylvania were simultaneously developing a collective memory of unwanted
Inundation-of-the-HeartlandRies-Edits.docx