Governor Quinn Announces Federal Aid Approved for Local Governments in 24 Counties

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced the Obama Administration has approved the state's request for federal aid to help local governments in 24 counties recover from recent flooding. The federal declaration means local governments in those counties can seek reimbursement for 75 percent of their eligible flood-related expenses. Counties included in today's federal declaration include Adams, Bureau, Clark, Crawford, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Kendall, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McHenry, Mercer, Ogle, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Warren and Woodford.

"This federal aid is good news for many communities that were hit hard by the historic flooding that occurred in April," Governor Quinn said. "Thousands of Illinois residents have been significantly impacted by this natural disaster and this important assistance will help our communities as they work to recover. I thank President Obama and his administration for their swift response to aid our state and to Senator Kirk and Senator Durbin for their continued support."

Since the historic flooding that began on April 18, Governor Quinn has taken every step necessary to ensure the residents of Illinois receive the help they need to recover. Beginning on April 18, Governor Quinn immediately activated State Emergency Operations Center and called a State of Emergency to alert the federal government and deploy state resources. Governor Quinn has since visited impacted communities across the state and worked to get federal aid as quickly as possible for those individuals and local governments in need. These efforts have resulted in federal aid to help families and businesses in 33 counties across Illinois so far. To date, more than $80 million in assistance has been approved for nearly 30,000 individuals and households due to the Quinn Administration's relief efforts.

Governor Quinn submitted the request for the counties approved today on May 22, citing more than $40 million in costs to local governments for their flood fight, public safety and recovery efforts. The 24 approved counties each met the federal threshold of $3.45 per capita. Cook County's flood-related expenses totaled $9.3 million. To reach the federal per capita threshold, Cook County would have needed expenses of at least $17.9 million. The Quinn Administration is disappointed that Cook County was not approved and will continue to work to obtain assistance for it.

"This is more great news for the communities that are recovering and rebuilding from last month's storms," U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) said. "We will continue to work with the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation to support any additional requests for federal aid."

On May 31, Governor Quinn requested federal assistance for local governments in Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Hancock, Lawrence, McDonough, Monroe, Morgan, Peoria, Schuyler, Scott, Tazewell and Will counties. The state is awaiting a decision on that request.

"We will continue working closely with FEMA to help expedite reimbursement to these local governments," said Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) Director Jonathon Monken.

IEMA and FEMA will begin scheduling briefings for local government officials to explain the process for seeking federal reimbursement. Applications for reimbursement are submitted to FEMA and, once approved, are forwarded to IEMA for final processing for payment.