Disaster Recovery News

The staff of the Surry County Chapter of the Red Cross in North Carolina found they were the ones needing help this weekend. Pipes in the ceiling burst and flooded the whole building. Frigid temperatures caused the break in the pipes.

The executive director of the Red Cross Chapter took measures to prevent the break in the pipes by turning up the heat in the building. She also left the lights in the attic of the building on in hopes that the heat produced would keep the pipes warm enough. Nevertheless, leaving lights on in a building is not enough to prevent pipes from bursting. This was made obvious from the ceiling tiles and insulation that were destroyed by the water.

Read the full story.

If you have a small business or run a small office, find out how one can prepare for flooding. One can also see tips about how to recover wet documents after a flood.

Much of the southern United States got more than a little wet today when 6-8 inches of rain poured down. Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida were the states majorly affected, but Alabama, Georgia, and Florida were the hardest hit.

Many roads and homes in low areas got flooded. The National Weather Service states that some of the rivers affected will remain flooded into next week. Flood watches are in effect for the eastern part of the United States from Florida up to parts of New England.

Business in this area can contact a flood recovery company that can help them get back up and running if they have been affected by the flooding.

Learn more about recovering after a flood.

In a city council meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Justin Shields placed an idea before his fellow council members: people should begin to  pay an emergency local-option sales tax of 2 percent extra for the next two years. The money collected would go towards recovery for victims of the June 2008 flood.

Rick Smith with The Gazette reported:

 ”Shields said it’s clear that neither the federal nor the state government is going to provide the city with the disaster relief it needs. Shields, who represents sections of the southwest quadrant hit hard by the June flood, said he can’t keep telling flood victims to hold on, help is coming…School districts already have a 1 percent local-option sales tax in place in the county, and the state has a 5 percent tax. Most of the state’s largest cities have a 1 percent tax, too.”

The increase in sales tax for a couple of years is Shields’ answer to how the citizens of his community can be supported without having to take money out of the city or county’s budget, therefore, preventing more job losses. Some are looking at this idea as a way people in the community can help each other in this time of need.

Some are opposed to Shields’ idea with the current economic crisis in the United States. Read more here.

Learn about the flood recovery process and disaster recovery services.