Hurricane Jeanne dumped two to three inches of rainfall on Northeastern Pennsylvania September 28, adding to flooding problems already caused by six to eight inches of rainfall from Hurricane Ivan on September 17-18.

As a result, staff from OSM's Wilkes-Barre Office were investigating 14 new emergency situations caused by Jeanne at the same time that 13 projects resulting from Ivan were being reclaimed. Thus far only one other AML emergency has been declared from the Jeanne rains. Since September 20 the office has investigated 68 AML complaints.

One example of the problems caused by high rainfall was subsidence less than five feet from a house in Wilkes-Barre, where a void 16 feet across and nine feet deep threatened the rear of the house. Lumber being used by the landowner to renovate his home slid into the void. The problem was reported September 20 and investigated by OSM's Wilkes-Barre Office the same day. Emergency crews backfilled the void with cement grout and stone. Restoration of the affected area consisted of topsoil, grass seed and mulch. All work was completed at no cost to the landowner on September 27.

Six of the 13 projects related to Hurricane Ivan have been completed and six of the remaining seven are scheduled to be completed during the week of October 11.