U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum marveled at the damage in flood-ravaged business districts in Carnegie and Oakdale yesterday, where business owners and restoration companies continue to clear tons of debris and assess damage to their operations.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Oakdale Council President Ron "Huck" Gamble accompanies U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum as he tours the business district to view flood damage yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

But Santorum said he could not deliver the one thing owners say they need most: direct federal grants to help with the rebuilding process.

In Carnegie, where 300 of the borough's 400 businesses received various levels of damage, Santorum said flooding that began Sept. 17 caused some of the worst damage he's ever seen. While Santorum talked with local businesspeople, government officials and the news media, workers continued to pile hundreds of bags of debris on West Main Street for removal by front loaders and dump trucks.

"Understand that this is going to have to be a mostly local effort with the federal government helping where it can," Santorum said. "The federal government doesn't have money for this type of relief."

Santorum said the federal government may be able to allocate funds to specific state and county programs that help with economic development. For the future, Congress also may have to consider new legislation to make federal aid available for similar floods, but that wouldn't help with the current problems, Santorum said.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato wasn't happy with that position and said in an interview later that he would continue to lobby for federal and state help for businesses.

Businesses in Carnegie, in particular, are facing a difficult time because they weren't eligible for flood insurance. Despite Chartiers Creek overflowing its banks 11 days ago, the borough's business district isn't considered to be in a flood plain, so insurance isn't available; regular business insurance doesn't cover damage caused by floods, so no one will reimburse them for their losses.

"These are not people who were told they needed flood insurance and decided they wanted to save a buck and didn't buy it," said Onorato, noting that as of yesterday, 1,060 businesses across the county reported flood damage.

"These are people who are the backbone of the communities and they're going to be there, borrowing money and getting their businesses back in order, but they need some help to do it."

The county, which laid off several hundred workers in June, isn't in a position to take a lead role in helping businesses, Onorato said. But it might be able to supplement federal and state help, which he said could come from Gov. Ed Rendell's economic stimulus program approved this year.

"Obviously, there's got to be a combination of loans and grants to help these people," Onorato said. "After the state and federal government [provide financial help], then maybe the county can chip in through our economic development program."Rendell's office was unavailable to comment on what state help might be available for businesses.

Carol T. Schneider, executive director of the Carnegie Community Development Corp., said the flood damage completely rewrote her job description. Where before she was looking for tenants to fill the upper floors of borough businesses, now her agency is serving as a clearinghouse to match damaged businesses with other building owners who have space available temporarily at rock-bottom prices.

More than 250 businesspeople attended a meeting Saturday to talk about the rebuilding effort in the business district, Schneider said. Many of them still are assessing damage to determine what they will reopen, either at their present location or another site.

Scott and Ann Venetti already have decided to close Eagle Drug, which they owned and operated on West Main Street for 15 years. Pharmacist Scott Venetti and four other store employees already have been hired by the CVS drug store on Washington Avenue, which also is handling all of the prescriptions for former Eagle customers.

Ann Venetti said she couldn't afford to go without a steady income for an extended period and didn't want to face repaying heavy loans to restore the building.

"I hope somebody else will come in and open another neighborhood drug store," she said. "These people deserved to have us -- someone who really cared about them and their needs."