Biden visiting Pa. to view flood damage

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday to view flood damage and recovery efforts.

Biden will be joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and by Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross.

Central and eastern Pennsylvania were battered by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee last week.

Record flooding along small streams and the Susquehanna River damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

The flooding has renewed old questions about the lack of flood protection for towns along the flood-prone Susquehanna River.

Congress' failure to deliver on promised hazard-mitigation funding may wind up taking some of the blame.

Federal lawmakers years ago authorized millions for property buyouts and flood mitigation projects along the Susquehanna. But only $7 million has been spent, and funding has all but dried up.

Experts say a massive levee system that shielded the city of Wilkes-Barre and its suburbs likely made things worse downstream and upstream.