The Berks County Department of Emergency Services (Berks DES), the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), and other state and county agencies and departments will open a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) July 12 to serve county residents with needs related to the catastrophic rainstorm and flooding that occurred on Sunday, July 9.
A MARC is a temporary, quick-response center where a variety of state and county agencies collect in a central location to provide direct support to community members affected by a disaster event. The Berks County MARC will be located at the Exeter Township School District Lausch Administration Building, at 200 Elm Street, Reading, PA. The MARC will be open Thursday from Noon to 7 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The following county and state agencies will be present at the MARC (list includes a description of some of the sorts of services they can provide):
- Berks Department of Emergency Services – referrals to proper resources for individuals who have not yet reported their damage to local government;
- Berks County Area Agency on Aging – assist older affected population;
- Office of the Attorney General – information on contractor fraud, scams, etc.;
- Department of Environmental Protection – safety advice and questions with respect to waterway management and private wells;
- Department of Human Services – document replacement assistance (i.e. birth/death certificates, etc.), disability assistance services, new benefit applicants, etc.;
- Berks County MH/DD office – crisis counseling services;
- Department of Insurance – address questions and information on conflict issues with insurance carriers;
- Department of Military and Veterans Affairs – assist with replacement of documents, info on veteran-specific programs available;
- PEMA – general MARC support, disaster recovery information, National Flood Insurance Program information;
- PennDOT – info on their online driver services, driver’s license replacement, etc.;
- Department of Health – safety information.
Berks DES would like to remind all Berks County property owners, renters, and businesses who suffered property damage in relation to the rain and flooding in the past several days to report their damage to their local municipality as quickly as possible. Your local municipality is the city, borough or township to which you pay your local taxes. Complete and accurate collection of this information could help Berks County residents and businesses qualify for additional disaster recovery programs.
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