that's just one component to the bloomsburg project. this year, about 1/3 of the buildings in that town were flooded. 1/3 of an entire town. worse, the bloomsburg fair, one of the largest economic drivers for the town, the county and dozens of community and charity groups had to be canceled for the first time since the civil war due to the epic flooding. what happened to bloomsburg could have been prevented. the federal government dropped the ball. it failed to protect homes and businesses. we need to make sure that it doesn't happen again, not to bloomsburg and not to other communities along the river that need protection. sadly, for some of the people i've spoken with, flood protection will come too late. some of my constituents have told me they will not move back into their homes. the great flood of 2011 was just the latest in a long line of floods that they've had to endure. they're tired of picking up the pieces of their shattered lives. some were being in the process of brought out by the government. now they're in limbo. not sur

for 40 years, the town of bloomsburg has been asking for flood protection. there is a plan to provide it but the corps of engineers will not fund it because it does not meet an arbitrary benefit to cost ratio, the b.c.r. now because of the welcome of adequate flood protection in bloomsburg, 1,000 jo -- 1,000 jobs are on the verge of being lost. two of colombia -- columbia county's largest employers sit in the floodplain. when fishing creek and the susquhanna river flood, these employers have to not only shut down production but move equipment that costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars. during this flood event, more than six feet of water poured through their shops, destroying equipment and inventory. at a time when we're talking about how to create jobs, we're not doing enough to protect not doing enough to protect these.