U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, said he is working with the Trump administration to secure federal aid for McLean County and surrounding counties damaged by storms in August.
During a public appearance Wednesday in Bloomington, LaHood said he and Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady wrote and signed a letter asking for a federal disaster declaration for eight counties, including McLean.
The letter supports Gov. JB Pritzker's Sept. 16 request for a presidential major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. The request also covers Champaign, Cook, Ford, Fulton, Tazewell, Vermilion and Will counties.
LaHood said that over the next month he will continue to "impress upon the administration at the highest level the need to have that federal declaration."
If the declaration is approved, residents and property owners could get grants for temporary housing and home repairs, plus low-interest loans to cover uninsured property damage. Local governments and nonprofits could also receive money for emergency response and debris removal.
"This is a team effort at the local level, the county level and the federal level on what we do next," LaHood said. "The federal government has an obligation and responsibility to play a role in that."
McLean County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said the county will continue to pursue every available option to help pay for storm damage.
"I am grateful for our partnership with Rep. LaHood, who's going to be advocating for us to get some federal money to allow us to have access to those funds for the recovery," Johnston said.
Teams from FEMA, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration began a multicounty damage assessment Aug. 31 to determine whether damage met the threshold for a federal declaration.
Bloomington Deputy City Manager Sue McLaughlin told the city council on Sept. 13 that McLean County had submitted $42.5 million in damage.
The state faced a Sept. 15 deadline to submit its request to FEMA. It is not known when a decision will be made.
Storm by the numbers
Normal Town Council member Scott Preston said the Aug. 13 microburst left 19,000 cubic yards of brush, which the town collected. He said the Normal Fire Department responded to more calls that day than on any other day in its history.
McLean County Emergency Management Agency Director Cathy Beck said the agency received 300 home damage reports through an online portal on its website in the days after the storm.
"We estimate that only a quarter of the people actually submitted their information into that portal," Beck said.
Beck said she believes well over 1,000 residents were affected. By Sept. 1, the county had tracked nearly 400 residential damage claims and 22 business claims, most of them in Bloomington-Normal.
Brady said storm cleanup in Bloomington alone has cost an estimated $1.6 million so far. City crews have hauled away 2,373 loads of brush and more than 500 tons of bulk waste.
He said wages and overtime for the cleanup have topped $482,000.
