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Levees could be in Delaware River's future

EASTON, Pa., July 2 (UPI) -- As the waters of the Delaware River recede, Pennsylvania and New Jersey officials are considering how to prevent future floods.

Several days of downpours brought the river to flood stage for the third time in less than two years. Residents of low-lying areas are reported to be tired of evacuations and of returning to a water-logged mess in their homes.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell inspected flood damage in the Easton area Saturday and suggested levees like those that protected Wilkes-Barre on the Susquehanna River from a major flood this time, the Easton Express reported. He said that the levees' price tag -- $200 million -- was cost-effective to prevent $1.5 billion in flood damage.

"Whether levees or dikes are things people along the Delaware would like to see, well, we'll just have to see," Rendell said.

Buyouts are another possibility in some areas like the Island neighborhood in Trenton, N.J. Residents of the neighborhood squeezed in between the river and a highway love it -- but not when the water is rising, the newspaper said.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, who accompanied Rendell, said that the Senate has approved $175,000 for a two-year study on preventing flood damage on the Delaware.

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