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Lehigh Valley Progess Leaves Impression Behind The Bylines Christopher J. Hughes

Idetown firefighters heroes around Oak Hill
I represent my friends and neighbors in Oak Hill who, as a group, wish to publicly commend the actions of the Idetown Volunteer Fire Dept., whose members unselfishly disregarded their own situations to come to the aid of residents in this neighborhood. 
As did many others in this area, we suffered various forms of devastation from Hurricane Irene. An immediate problem was the rapidly rising water in our finished basements.
 The Idetown fire company volunteers who responded to our 911 call were calm and listened to the concerns for each situation. They immediately provided relief with their auxiliary generator-driven pumps. They successfully removed almost 3 feet of water from our home as well as from the homes of neighbors who also were without power. They worked all of the daylight hours of that dreadful Sunday and into the dark.
We are ever so grateful for their excellent dedication and service to our community at this time of emergency.
 A huge thank-you to these outstanding volunteers for being there for the Oak Hill residents in our time of need. 

Carolyn Straka

Lehman Township
Local officials showed great leadership skills
Thank God the larger area of the Wyoming Valley was spared last week, and let&rsquo;s make sure those people who incurred flood damage get the needed help.
Government does work and is needed to help all people when disaster hits; FEMA and state assistance are important to recovery. So is the president declaring this a disaster area.
 Experienced leadership in place helped to keep things under control and enabled crews to quickly respond to problems.
 Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton and the city employees under his leadership deserve kudos for their work. Also, Mayor Jim Haggerty of Kingston and the much-maligned Luzerne County commissioners did yeoman&rsquo;s work during this emergency. The many municipal officials and workers deserve credit, too.
Gov. Tom Corbett also was a steadying influence during this time. Much is left to be desired from congressmen Tom Marino and Lou Barletta, who seemingly support Republican cuts in everything and teamed with their pal, Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, who recently said before you issue disaster aid, offsets should be found in deficit/debt reduction.
 Thanks to all the locals who helped prevent a major disaster. The levee system worked.

Bill Eydler

Wilkes-Barre
Levee height numbers don&rsquo;t add up for writer
 Everyone is insisting that the levees in Wilkes-Barre are 41 feet high. It is also stated the Susquehanna River crested at 42.66 feet.
It doesn&rsquo;t take a genius to see that there is something wrong with these figures. If the levees in Wilkes-Barre are 41 feet high and the river crested at 42.66 feet, then there is a lot more of Wilkes-Barre that should have been flooded.
To where did this more then 1.5 feet of water vanish?
I would like someone to explain these figures and stand by them.

James F. Vergura

Pittston
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Idetown firefighters heroes around Oak Hill I represent my frie