Lower Allen officials praise storm response, urge residents to report damage and leave curbside debris

Manager Davis and township directors told the board the township response to the July 4 storm involved multiple departments, volunteers and outside contractors, and the township will hold an after-action debrief next week to assess response, lessons learned and follow-up tasks.

"I just wanna publicly thank them," Manager Davis said, naming public works and other staff who worked through the weekend to clear roads and restore services. Vice President Nagy and several commissioners also thanked crews and volunteers for round-the-clock efforts.

Officials urged residents with property damage to use the county's damage-reporting link (a CrisisTrack tool) so the county can tabulate losses and determine whether federal or state declarations or Small Business Administration programs could be triggered. "I would just encourage anybody with any damage to their business or their residence to actually go on to the website, and hit the link," one director said.

Practical cleanup notes: staff said Penn Waste is accepting extra curbside yard waste and limited additional refuse (including some perished food from outages) for the week; yard-waste facilities have had extended hours and the township may open additional hours if staff is available. Penn Waste or contract staff described that yard-waste collections may occur on a 48-hour rolling basis and that construction debris typically requires a separate pickup arrangement.

The township also announced staff will prepare an FAQ for the newsletter explaining power-restoration steps and right-of-way/tree procedures and requested resident patience while contractors and utilities address outstanding service issues. The board will receive a fuller after-action report following the planned staff debrief.