All the local counties are included in an emergency declaration made yesterday by The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The declaration states that an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts due to conditions resulting from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee beginning on Sept. 3 and continuing.Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.The president's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose:• Of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population.• To provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety.• To lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.A total of 42 counties are included in the declaration, including Carbon, Schuylkill, Lehigh, Monroe, and Northampton. Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.Thomas J. McCool has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.Mark Nalesnik, director of the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency, received a request from the Pa. Emergency Management Agency to travel to another county and serve as emergency management coordinator.Nalesnik declined because of widespread local flooding."I wasn't comfortable leaving my county," he said. "I wasn't going to leave without making sure no major problems were going to arise. Now if we're out of the woods, I would be open to going and providing assistance elsewhere."He said it appears local streams are beginning to recede and "it looks like we will start getting back to normal."The remnants of Lee dropped 3.4 inches of rain in about 2 1/2 days, according to the rain gauge monitored in Nesquehoning by Nalesnik. He said this was on top of the 4.4 inches of rain that fell from Tropical Storm Irene.Other local precipitation totals from Lee were 4.7 inches in Lehighton, 6.57 inches in Hauto, 7.14 inches in Walnutport, and 5.2 inches in East Penn Township.Bethel in Berks County netted 11.43 inches of rain.In Sussex County, N.J., 2.15 inches of rain fell in 35 minutes yesterday afternoon, producing heavy flooding there.In Carbon County, the main flooding problems were caused by the Mahoning Creek in East Penn Township and the Lizard Creek in East Penn Township.One co-worker, living in West Penn Township, took more than two hours to get home from the Mahoning plant of the TIMES NEWS, because of flooding, traffic problems caused by flooding, and long detours.The overflowed streams made it a nightmare for some late afternoon commuters getting home from work yesterday.Route 443 was closed because of flooding between Mill Road and Seneca Road for several hours. Every side road between Route 443 and Mahoning Drive East and West, from Lehighton to South Tamaqua, also was closed because of the high water.Motorists could travel on Route 902, which served as a detour route.Sections of Route 895 in East Penn Township were shut down, as well as parts of side roads.A road in Lausanne Township also was closed from high water.There were two areas of Route 309 in West Penn Township closed, resulting in heavy traffic jams on some side roads.Route 61 in Schuylkill County had numerous closures.Western Schuylkill County was especially hit hard with Pine Grove and Hegins receiving substantial flood damage. A section of Route 81 between the Frackville and Pine Grove exits was closed even this morning, necessitating detours from the busy interstate.Locally, fire departments were busy pumping basements.Kevin Steber, a member of Summit Hill's Diligence Fire Company, said volunteers in that community began pumping basements at 8:30 yesterday morning and were still doing it last night.It was noted that in some cases, the high water somehow got into the sewerage system in Summit Hill and backed it up into some basements.Nalesnik said although there was significant flooding at specific points in the county, his office wasn't informed of any major emergencies.For Eastern Pennsylvania, this was the most accumulative precipitation since Hurricane Agnes struck in 1972.River levels in most areas didn't reach the levels that occurred when Agnes struck.The Susquehanna River crested at 31.8 feet in the Danville area this morning. When Agnes hit, the level was 32.2 feet.Hershey suffered significant flooding due to the Swatara Creek overflowing its banks. According to the National Weather Service, the Swatara Creek in Hershey has a flood stage of seven feet. The previous record was 16.1 feet. This morning it crested at a whopping 26.8 feet.