Governor appealing denial for FEMA assistance from winter floods

Gov. Bruce Rauner is asking President Barack Obama to reconsider the recent denial of the state’s request for federal assistance to help local governments — including St. Clair and Madison counties —recover from severe flooding and storms that occurred in late December and early January.

According to a press release issued by the governor’s office Friday, the appeal includes nearly $1.8 million in additional qualifying costs and spells out additional factors that explain the state’s request for federal assistance for local governments in Alexander, Bureau, Calhoun, Cass, Clark, Cumberland, Jackson, Jersey, Madison, Menard, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Randolph, St. Clair and Vermilion counties.

“Illinois is committed to continued recovery efforts in these counties,” Rauner said. “Without this federal assistance, the ability for many communities to recover fully from this devastating disaster will be difficult, if not impossible.”

Earlier this week, personnel from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency met with local officials in several of the affected counties to review flood-related local government expenses discovered after the initial state request for assistance had been sent. With the additional $1.8 million, total disaster-related local government expenses reached nearly $16.8 million, according to figures shared by the governor’s office.

St. Clair County EMA posted on its Facebook page late Friday afternoon that its officials held a conference call in which the decision to appeal the denial was discussed. The post reports that IEMA staff were “‘cautiously optimistic’” that the appeal would provide “necessary thresholds to allow for federal assistance.”

The governor’s office says the state’s appeal also notes severe localized impacts should be taken into consideration, such as per capita damage costs of $486 in Alexander County, more than $480 above the required county per capita of $3.57. The appeal also cites the effects of recent disasters in eight of the 17 counties, as well as the state’s nationally recognized mitigation and floodplain management efforts that significantly reduced costly impacts in many areas of the state.

If the governor’s appeal for assistance is approved, local governments in the approved counties would be eligible to apply for up to 75 percent reimbursement of their eligible disaster-related expenses, according to the press release.

“We’re committed to continuing to work with affected communities to ensure residents get the help they need to recover from the floods,” IEMA Director James K. Joseph noted Friday.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Governor appealing denial for FEMA assistance from winter floods."