Pa. communities marked for federal help to address climate change

Rachel McDevitt

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I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.

My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.

I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.

I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Jeremy Long / WITF

Haze hangs over Harrisburg as smoke from Canadian wildfires filtered into Pennsylvania on June 8, 2023. The smoke degraded air quality across Pennsylvania and other states in the northeast. Jeremy Long - WITF News

October 6, 2023 | 7:30 PM

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The federal government is recognizing several areas in Pennsylvania as having a high risk of extreme weather disasters related to climate change.

The new “community disaster resilience zones” will have prioritized access to federal money for resilience and mitigation projects.

The 483 zones identified across the country include 21 census tracts in Chester, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Jefferson, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Northampton, Philadelphia, and Susquehanna counties.

In Harrisburg, where two tracts have been marked as these zones, first responders are hoping the program will help the city finish planning and start construction on a project to remove the concrete lining from Paxton Creek and widen the creekbed.

Fire Chief Brian Enterline said the repeated flooding in that area covers major roads and cuts off sections of the city from each other.

“It’s not as simple as just driving an ambulance from point A to point B when we have those flooding issues on Cameron Street, so it increases that response time and increases the potential for issues on the emergency side significantly,” said Enterline, who also coordinates emergency management for the city.

Enterline said floods have increased since areas north of the city have developed, leaving less green space to absorb rainfall.

Intense storms that cause flooding are also becoming more common with climate change.

Money will come from the Inflation Reduction Act, last year’s major climate spending plan. A specific figure for the zones was not announced.

Rafiyqa Muhammad, who lives in Harrisburg and serves as a member of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board, says governments need to get better at communicating issues and plans with residents.

“I just like to do preventive measures, so we should be preparing for whether we get the dollars or not–what is the plan? What do we do?” Muhammad said.

Muhammad said officials need to engage with Black and Latino communities to find out what they need, rather than prescribe solutions for those neighborhoods.