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PEMA examines numerous Allegheny County landslide locations

EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Teams from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency were in Allegheny County on Tuesday surveying landslide damage.

The crews are looking at the extent of damage and the repairs necessary to fix it to determine how much money will be needed.

Channel 11's Aaron Martin was the only reporter allowed to go with them.

“The hill slides, we've been taking reports of them every day since mid-February,” said Matt Brown, head of county emergency services.

That's why county first responders took the PEMA teams to dozens of slides today. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s disaster emergency declaration last week opened the door for them to view the damage firsthand.

The teams are looking at a lot of different factors, not just roads that have already crumbled, but some areas that could be vulnerable.

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Brown is now looking to Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., for help.

“The real key to this is whether or not they can tie all of those series of storm systems together from mid-February to mid-April,” he said. “Historically, they haven't done that in the past at the federal level, but we're going to make our best attempt at it.”

It's a process that takes time, but one Brown believes is worth pursuing as the damage continues to spread.

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“We're working aggressively with this with everything we have the ability to do,” he said.

So far, the county has around $12 million in damage. The state budget has only a little more than $18 million set aside for cleanup in all 67 counties.

Brown and other first responders are hoping for disaster declarations on the state and federal levels to generate more funds to help pay for the growing problem.

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