PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A week after the historic flooding on Main Street in Manayunk, larger businesses received help from disaster recovery companies, using heavy equipment to clean up the mess. However, small business owners like Shirley Mitchell were still at loose ends.
“I come from a very proud family. You don’t ask for help. You just get tougher. And through this, I’m going to be honest with you, I need some help,” she admitted.
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Mitchell went to the Multi-Agency Resource Center hoping to get it.
“And not a loan with a low-interest rate, because nobody needs another bill after a pandemic. We need help, financial help, to get back up on our feet again,” she said.
State and local agencies are offering help to Philadelphia residents and businesses impacted by last week’s flooding from Hurricane Ida.
The Philadelphia Commerce Department, utilities, Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Red Cross and Salvation Army were among the more than a dozen agencies trying to help Mitchell and others problem-solve.
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“It’s a good first step,” said state Sen. Sharif Street.
He praised the effort but said more is needed. He noted that the governor’s hands were tied by his inability to unilaterally declare an emergency, a power stripped by voters in a May referendum.
“These folks would be able to help folks a lot more if the General Assembly took action to expand the amount of state resources that are here,” he added.
The resource center will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Gustine Recreation Center in East Falls.
