Why did St. Louis get federal assistance for flood damage before southwest IL?
President Joe Biden granted Missouri’s federal disaster declaration less than a month after record rainfall amounts caused severe flooding across the St. Louis region in July, but Illinois’ didn’t come until Monday.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau was questioned about that disparity during a news conference Monday in the metro-east community hit hardest by the flooding: East St. Louis.
She said the difference between the two communities was that the storm affected a larger area in Missouri and overall income there is much less than that of Illinois. Put simply, the damage and need in Missouri were great.
Across the river, the flooding resulted in major damage to more than 750 homes, over 130 businesses and led to at least $35 million in damage to uninsured infrastructure and emergency response costs, according to a statement from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson about his request for a federal disaster declaration.
Biden granted Parson’s Aug. 4 request within four days, opening the door to federal funding for affected families.
In the metro-east, local, state and federal officials determined 784 homes had damages totaling around $9 million. Some people have not returned to their damaged homes nearly three months later.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said Monday the St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department continues helping people with temporary housing, but he didn’t have an exact number of families who are still displaced from the flooding.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker requested a federal disaster declaration for Illinois on Aug. 30. Biden granted it 48 days later.
But local officials weren’t critical of Biden or the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday. They expressed gratitude. They noted federal officials had 60 days to consider the request and said they were happy to get an answer in less than 50 days.
“This is a great day,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said during the news conference. He credited Tate-Nadeau with making sure the federal government didn’t forget about St. Clair County’s flooding damages as new disasters came up, like a hurricane in Florida last month.
“Disasters have occurred since — Florida comes to recent memory — and many times public officials move on to the next issue, but it was (Tate-Nadeau) that made sure that Illinois, and specifically St. Clair County, remained in front of everybody’s mind,” Kern said.
Elected officials also publicly pressed Biden to grant Illinois’ federal disaster declaration, including U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis, Mike Bost and Mary Miller and other Illinois representatives in Congress.
State Sen. Chris Belt on Monday acknowledged the time it took to get an answer and thanked metro-east residents who he said remained hopeful.
“To those who were impacted, thank you for your courage, thank you for your confidence in believing that things would get better, and thank you for hope even when it didn’t seem like the needle was moving — and it was, but government sometimes moves slowly,” Belt said. “We’re here now.”
Anyone in St. Clair County who was affected by the flooding in July can now apply for federal assistance in the form of grants. Applications will be accepted for 60 days after the federal disaster declaration on Monday. Apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA mobile app.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 1:24 PM.
