Scranton officials say $5.5 million in FEMA flood repairs are complete; closeout paperwork underway

City staff told the City of Scranton Council that the package of repairs tied to the February 2018 flooding under FEMA project DR‑4408 is now complete and the administration is finishing closeout paperwork with FEMA and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).

The update, delivered at a council meeting, said roughly 40 of 52 individual scopes across seven large projects were completed, with about $5.5 million represented in construction and removal work. "The projects are now all completed," a staff presenter said, adding the city is "in the process of completing the final paperwork, working with our partners at FEMA and PEMA to do so."

Why this matters: the work included debris removal, stream bank stabilization, repairs to retaining walls and substructure work on bridges that city officials said reduce flood risk for neighborhoods across Scranton. Officials and the project team described the completion as improving public safety and making the city better positioned to respond to heavy rain events.

What staff reported: Joey Sedita, project manager, said crews removed 39,300 cubic yards of debris from eight city streams — roughly the equivalent of 4,000 tri-axle dump-truck loads — and installed about 6,270 cubic yards of riprap to stabilize about a quarter-mile of stream bank. Sedita called the Elm Street wall behind the South Side Shopping Center the "crown jewel" of the work; that wall, he said, cost over $1 million and was recently finished after an expanded scope. "We got that one done," Sedita…