AURORA, Ill. – Federal assistance in Illinois has reached more than $68 million, distributed among 24,000 individuals and households, since a major disaster was declared in the state May 10.

The latest summary of federal assistance to individuals and households that suffered losses due to the severe storms and flooding between April 16 and May 5 includes:

  • More than $68.3 million in FEMA grants approved for individuals and households;
  • Of that amount, more than $60 million approved for housing assistance, including temporary rental assistance, home repair costs and assistance toward replacing destroyed homes;
  • More than $8 million approved to cover other essential disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses and damaged personal possessions;
  • More than 33,000 home inspections completed to confirm disaster damage;
  • Nearly $2 million in loans to homeowners, renters or business owners has been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration; and
  • More than 1,560 visits to Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) operated jointly by FEMA and the state of Illinois.

Fourteen languages, other than English, are being used to communicate assistance information to those affected by the severe storms and flooding: Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese. FEMA also has specialists who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL).

Eleven counties in Illinois were included in the initial declaration, but on May 22, an additional 14 counties were added for individual assistance.

Residents of 25 counties in the major disaster declaration can now register for federal assistance. The counties include Bureau, Cook, Crawford, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Will and Woodford.

It is not necessary to visit a DRC to register with FEMA. Individuals can register online at www.disasterassistance.gov or via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. People who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services (VRS) can call 800-621-3362. For more information visit the Illinois Disaster website
www.fema.gov/disaster/4116

SBA low-interest disaster loans may be available for homeowners, renters, businesses and private non-profit organizations of all sizes to repair or replace real estate, contents and/or personal property damaged in the severe storms and flooding. Information and assistance from SBA is available at 1-800-659-2955, (TTY) 1-800-877-8339 or online at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion5, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: 571-408-1835

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Federal Disaster Aid to Illinois Residents Tops $68 Million

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