Eight Additional Illinois Counties Added to Disaster Declaration

AURORA, Ill. – Illinois residents in eight additional counties who were affected by the severe storms and flooding between April 16 and May 5 are now eligible to register for federal disaster assistance.

FEMA approved Governor Pat Quinn’s request to add Brown, Calhoun, Clark, Douglas, Henry, Pike, Whiteside and Winnebago counties to the major disaster declaration issued May 10.

This brings the total to 33 counties in the Illinois disaster declaration for severe storms and flooding between April 16 and May 5. Previous counties designated under the declaration are

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.

Individual Assistance for homeowners and renters can include grants to help pay for temporary rental assistance, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs. Also, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance.

It is not necessary to visit a Disaster Recovery Center (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

The deadline to register for FEMA disaster assistance is Tuesday, July 9.

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.

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