Durbin, Kirk: President Issues Major Disaster Declaration for State of Illinois
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today announced that President Obama has made a major disaster declaration for the State of Illinois triggering the release of federal funds to help communities recover from the severe winter storm and snow storm which occurs January 31 – February 3, 2011.
“Although the snow has been cleared and the storms are long gone, residents and business owners are still facing a mountain of challenges. This Presidential disaster declaration will now start the process of matching needs with money,” said Durbin and Kirk. “We are hopeful that the federal restoration efforts will begin dealing with the most seriously affected residents first.”
On March 1, Durbin and Kirk were joined by the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation in requesting that President Obama declare 74 Illinois counties – affected by a severe winter storm earlier this year – federal disaster areas. A Presidential disaster declaration would allow cities and counties to apply for federal reimbursements to help pay for storm damage repairs.
Under today’s announcement, 60 counties have been made eligible for Public Assistance funding which provides assistance to local and state governments for extraordinary costs for response and recovery to the disaster. This can include emergency work, debris removal from public roads and repair and replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities or infrastructure. The following counties are eligible: Adams, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, Douglas, DuPage, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jasper, Jo Daviess, Kane, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Menard, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Pike, Putnam, Richland, Rock Island, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago, and Woodford.
Under today’s announcement, 43 counties have been made eligible for Snow Assistance funding which provides assistance for emergency protective measures. This emergency assistance will be provided for a period of 48 hours for the counties of Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Jo Daviess, Kane, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Logan, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, Mercer, Morgan, Ogle, Peoria, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago, and Woodford. This emergency assistance will be provided for a period of 72 hours for the counties of Adams, Boone, Brown, Ford, Henderson, Knox, McHenry, Menard, and Scott.
Additionally, all Illinois counties have been made eligible for Hazard Mitigation Assistance which includes funding for measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property.
Other members signing on to the March 1 letter include Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Danny Davis (D-IL), Robert Dold (R-IL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Tim Johnson (R-IL), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Don Manzullo (R-IL), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Peter Roskam (R-IL), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Bobby Schilling (R-IL) Aaron Schock (R-IL), John Shimkus (R-IL) and Joe Walsh (R-IL).
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