State of Emergency declared in Brant

Hundreds of western New Yorkers still find themselves in the danger zone left behind by this week's deadly and devastating summer storms.

Tuesday night, as Governor David Paterson and local lawmakers push for federal disaster aid, a state of emergency remains in effect for Erie, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties.

Inspectors have ruled dozens of homes unsafe to live in. Water supplies in some areas are dwindling, while sewer pollution is piling up.

It's pretty messy. All the floods from the rising waters of the Cattaraugus Creek have caused problems for other western New York communities now just beginning to deal with all the damage.

Around 30 homeowners returned to their properties in Silver Creek, only to find pink notices declaring the structures unsafe.

In the hardest hit neighborhood, the Silver Village Mobile Home Park, residents were told to stay away one more day.

State emergency management officials are surveying the damage. Residents are hoping to qualify for federal assistance.

The heavy floods made their way down Cattaraugus Creek to Lake Erie.

Allen Tedesco lives on the shoreline in the Town of Brant and has seen just about everything over the past 48 hours.

A barely visible boat is now lost to the waters of Lake Erie.

Brant Supervisor Leonard Pero is restricting people from the waters there because of the heavy pollution.

Congressman Brian Higgins talked about exceeding that limit in order to qualify for FEMA dollars. The number to exceed is $26 million and emergency officials expect the damage in Silver Creek to be well above it.