Durbin, Duckworth Lead Illinois Delegation In Urging President Biden To Grant Federal Disaster Declaration For 5 Illinois Counties Following Severe Weather
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today led every member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Biden urging the White House to grant Governor JB Pritzker’s request for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for five counties. The letter follows tornadoes, high winds, hail, and flash floods that caused widespread damage across Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sangamon Counties and led to four fatalities.
“We write in support of Governor JB Pritzker’s request for federal assistance for Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sangamon Counties in Illinois, to recover from tornadoes and severe weather that occurred this past weekend,” wrote the lawmakers.
“Governor Pritzker has indicated that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response and recovery is beyond the combined capability of the state and local governments. As such, he requests Public Assistance and Individual Assistance for these counties to help the residents clean up and rebuild amid this large-scale damage,” the letter continued.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
April 3, 2023
Dear Mr. President:
We write in support of Governor JB Pritzker’s request for federal assistance for Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sangamon Counties in Illinois, to recover from tornadoes and severe weather that occurred this past weekend.
Governor Pritzker has indicated that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response and recovery is beyond the combined capability of the state and local governments. As such, he requests Public Assistance and Individual Assistance for these counties to help the residents clean up and rebuild amid this large-scale damage.
On March 31, tornadoes, high winds, hail, and flash floods caused widespread damage and loss of life. This weather caused four fatalities; one person died following the collapse of the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, and three people died due to residential collapses following or tornado in Robinson. Tornadoes and straight-line winds damaged dozens of structures in the other three counties.
We respectfully request that you approve Governor Pritzker’s request for Public Assistance and Individual Assistance for Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sangamon Counties. Thank you for your timely consideration of this important request. We stand ready to assist in any way appropriate.
Sincerely,
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