SPRINGFIELD – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced the federal government has approved the state’s request for federal assistance for units of local government in Cook, DuPage, Grundy, and LaSalle counties for extraordinary expenses incurred responding to and recovering from severe flooding that struck the area in mid-September.

 

“For many communities the September flood was their second major flood in little more than a year and the costs for flood-fighting and recovery costs were a real strain on their budgets,” said Governor Blagojevich.  “I’m pleased to announce that FEMA has agreed that this assistance is needed.”

 

On October 8^th, Governor Blagojevich submitted a request for federal disaster assistance for seven counties, including Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle, and Will counties.  The letter detailed the extraordinary expenses incurred by local and state government for responding to and recovering from the flooding.

 

Preliminary damage assessments conducted by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency documented local government flood-related expenses totaling nearly $17.8 million in Cook County, nearly $6 million in DuPage County, $159,393 in Grundy County, and $831, 385 in LaSalle County.

 

The Governor previously requested federal assistance for people and businesses in the seven counties and that request was approved on October 3^rd.

 

Local and state government bodies in the approved counties can apply for reimbursement for 75 percent of their extraordinary flood-related expenses for such things as emergency work, debris removal from public roads and repair or replacement of infrastructure and public property.