County officials hope updated documentation, estimates, invoices and receipts will strengthen a denied aid request following severe storms that damaged areas of McLean County in August.
The county has continued gathering information since its request for federal financial assistance was sent to President Donald Trump on Sept. 16.
The request called for $46 million. Approximately $17,000 of that request was approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] and sent to Trump.
County Emergency Management Agency Director Cathy Beck said that McLean and surrounding counties have been working together with the state to get more solid data that can be validated by FEMA.
“It's just putting that in the right package, putting a bow on it and trying again,” Beck said.
The appeal will follow the same process as the original request, with compiling information and submitting it to FEMA for review.
Beck does not expect the overall dollar amount to dramatically increase, but the revised request will be supported by firmer numbers and more complete documentation.
The request only includes damages to government entities, not residential properties or private businesses. Central Illinois Regional Airport and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington were included in the request, which accounted for nearly half of the county’s total.
Beck said there are plans to help the community outside of this request.
“There's only one appeal process. However, we are going to work with the state to bring in the Small Business Administration [SBA] to be able to start helping residents and businesses with low-interest, long-term loans, which is realistically the most likely direct line of assistance that would be available,” Beck said.
Beck anticipates an SBA request could be pursued around mid-October.
The public assistance requested through the federal government is intended to help eligible government entities cover disaster-related expenses, including infrastructure repairs, debris removal and qualifying emergency costs.
According to Beck, the county made a strong case for assistance.
“I think we definitely showed that there was way more than a rural county like ours can handle on their own,” Beck said. “There's a good chance that cuts will have to happen somewhere to make up for the money spent.”
Beck said those cuts “could be anybody,” referring to possibly the county budget and the municipalities.
Some small communities spent as much as three times their typical annual debris-removal costs responding to the storm.
Not the first time
Despite what Beck describes as a strong case, she acknowledged expectations for the appeal are tempered by a long history of federal disaster declaration requests not being approved.
“The history in the past several years has been that no requests for federal declarations have been approved,” Beck said. “Even hurricanes and things like that, it's not been approved to provide financial assistance. But we're doing what the process says, and we're doing everything that we can to bring some assistance into the communities.”
County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said the denial is politically motivated. A Politico analysis in March showed the president has disproportionately denied requests for disaster aid from Democrat-led states. According to a media release, Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood sent a letter to President Trump Tuesday urging him to issue federal assistance to Central and Northern Illinois counties in his district, which includes McLean County.
"Partisan politics belong on the campaign trail, not in office. We are elected to serve all constituents, not pick and choose on a whim. This is certainly a crushing blow on top of the devastation suffered here in McLean County,” Johnston said. “We are one nation and denying assistance to neighbors is frankly un-American.”
“We will continue to work with the SBA and Illinois Emergency Management Agency to bring as much financial assistance as we can to any of our residents facing the mounting costs of recovery," Johnston said.
Approximately 500 residential damage reports were submitted through the county’s online portal, according to Beck. The county also received reports from approximately seven businesses, a number Beck described as far below the likely total of businesses affected.
Beck said the actual number of impacted homes could be at least twice the number reflected in the portal.
“We didn't have as many as we had during the [April] tornadoes, but the damages, they're different,” Beck said. “Losing some shingles versus six inches of water in your basement are huge differences in dollars.”
Residents who did not submit information through the online portal would not be excluded from assistance if a declaration is approved. They would, however, need to document their damage and repair costs to support a request for assistance.
Beck added that McLean County is lucky the storms resulted in only minimal injuries and no deaths
“I like to hope to think that part of that is because people are prepared and aware, but that's the best thing you can do to protect your family is be aware, be prepared,” Beck said.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency did not provide a response to WGLT before publication.
