Displaced East St. Louis residents worried about where they’ll live in aftermath of flooding
Hours before another round of heavy rain struck southwestern Illinois Thursday afternoon, some displaced East St. Louis residents worried about where they’ll live. They said they haven’t received any answers from the city since their neighborhood was flooded Tuesday.
“If they come speak with us and let us know what’s going on, that would be good,” said Denise Smith, who lives on Terrace Drive. “We need some type of communication because I feel like I’m about to have an anxiety attack.”
Smith said her family, including her 2-year-old daughter, was taken to a hotel inside Casino Queen after severe rainfall Tuesday caused flash flooding. Smith has lived in her home on 725 Terrace Drive for nearly a year and hadn’t experienced severe flooding in the neighborhood until now.
Terrace Drive and parts of Mary Avenue were still flooded as of Thursday afternoon, even before another round of torrential rain fell later in the day.
“Four days ago, I got my car fixed,” Smith, 34, said. “It was $2,500 to get it fixed, and now it’s submerged in water. Basically, I lost everything. Illinois is not even under national disaster, so we’re not getting help from FEMA or anything right now, so the only thing we’re doing is living day by day. I’m hearing the city pumps aren’t working as they should, so if all of this was fixed, we wouldn’t be having the issues that we have.”
‘We’re still displaced and homeless’
City officials in East St. Louis did not respond directly to Smith’s concerns on Thursday. On Tuesday, East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III declared a state of emergency, and city hall was provided as a makeshift shelter for residents.
St. Clair County declared a flood disaster on Thursday. County workers were seen installing pumps to help drained areas in East St. Louis on Thursday afternoon.
Twenty-five familes in East St. Louis have been rescued and displaced since Tuesday, according to a press release sent by the city on Thursday afternoon.
“Since the moment the flooding occurred, I have been working diligently with our public safety, public works and emergency management staff to address the needs of our residents which included food, clothing, medication, and temporary housing,” Eastern said in the press release. “The City of East St. Louis is currently coordinating emergency assistance for displaced residents in partnership with the United Way of Greater of St. Louis, State Representative LaToya Greenwood, State Senator Christopher Belt, Illinois Emergency Management and other nonprofit organizations. My heart goes out to the residents who were affected by the storm.”
Sharon Franklin, who also resides on Terrace Drive, is frustrated by what she said is a lack of communication from the city. Her family is staying in the Casino Queen, but she doesn’t know how long they’ll be able to stay there.
“We got here Tuesday, and they informed us of a check-out date of Thursday, and we have nowhere to go,” Franklin said. “They were talking about sending us over to shelters, and I have special needs children, and I can’t have that, so it’s just terrible….We’re stuck, and we don’t know anything.”
Franklin hopes their stay can be extended until next week. On Thursday, staff and volunteers from Gateway Pet Guardians provided a boat for Sharon to rescue her pets from her home. But she still isn’t sure of what’s next for her family.
“We’re still displaced and homeless,” Franklin said. “A lot of us have funds, but we don’t have enough to get a place. We need a contingency plan, and no one has that. (The hotel has) a bed to sleep in, and that’s cool and everything, but you still have that vision in your head when they say you have to go and what are you going to do next?”
The city is encouraging residents in need of assistance to call United Way of Greater St. Louis at 2-1-1, Urban League at (618) 274-1150, and Community Lifeline at (618) 482-2950.
This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 5:09 PM.
