Loans may be only option left for Illinois residents recovering from flooding
As hope for federal funding dwindles, residents and business owners affected by historic flooding in Southern Illinois’ options for relief are shrinking.
In another blow to flood victims, the Federal Emergency Management Agency doubled down on its decision to deny assistance to Illinois residents affected by historic springtime flooding last week.
FEMA’s denial means residents in Grafton, Alton and other places whose homes or businesses were damaged by the more than 127 days of flooding that began in March and ended in July won’t be getting any individual assistance from the federal government.
Alicia Tate-Nadeau, Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s (IEMA) acting director, said the decision to deny the appeal that would have helped 1.4 million residents and homeowners recoup an estimated $8.2 million in uninsured losses was a blow to the state.
“While we are extremely disappointed that Illinois did not qualify for Individual Assistance funding, we will not give up fighting to provide resources to the citizens of Illinois,” she said.
The state is not allowed to submit another appeal, due to federal rules, meaning the possibility of federal assistance is unlikely, but a different option that would allow residents to take out loans from the government may be possible.
Due to FEMA’s decision, IEMA is requesting a disaster declaration from the U.S. Small Business Administration in an effort to give residents and business owners a chance to apply for low-interest, long-term loans. The terms and interest rates vary depending on the borrower’s financial condition.
In total, its estimated 1.4 million residents and homeowners in 22 counties were affected by springtime flooding and severe storms in Illinois along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Even so, the state must be awarded approval from the agency before loan applications can begin.
The Small Business Administration recently was dispatched to Granite City after flash flooding in the city left many residents and business owners with mounting expenses and in need of financial assistance. The agency awarded more than $1 million worth of loans.
Madison County Emergency Management Agency Director Tony Falconio, who helped SBA with their work in Granite City, said the loans are helpful for residents and business owners trying to get back on their feet.
“Yes, it is a loan but its definitely a great alternative to paying out of your own pocket to repair your home,” he said.
Setting a bad precedent
Falconio called FEMA’s decision to deny individual assistance for springtime flood victims “disheartening.”
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed in the denial,” he said. “As a state we had thousands of homes impacted and for the federal government to deny our request is disheartening.”
While Madison County did experience a heavy amount of flood damage in places like downtown Alton, Falconio said there was little damage to residential homes, meaning there weren’t many applying for individual aid in the county.
Most of Madison County’s needed aid was from public assistance, funds awarded by FEMA to local government that pay for 70 percent of funds spent on flood prevention or damage. Madison County originally requested roughly $24.8 million in public assistance.
However, he said, FEMA’s decision sets a tough precedent for the future by setting a benchmark for future disasters. It also means municipalities, counties and IEMA will need to work harder in the future.
“Anytime we have a disaster moving forward we have something to compare to that says ‘well FEMA denied this amount of money for this flood, are they going to accept the next flood or the next disaster, ‘“ Falconio said. “On the other hand it makes us work harder, it makes the state, IEMA, work harder at making sure we are documenting any and all damage.”
He said making sure every little bit of damage is reported will be a continued focus in future floods or disasters. He said anyone who has damage should make sure to report it in the future.
“If there’s somebody out there that says ‘oh there’s only a little bit at my house, I’m going to worry about it myself,’ that can hurt your neighbor,” he said. “Your neighbor may not be able to afford it and if we had gotten our state declaration your neighbor might have had funds to fix it.”
Tate-Nadeau said IEMA is continuing its work to change how FEMA decides who can get individual assistance.
“We are committed to working with our federal delegation to encourage FEMA to change the eligibility requirements of the Individual Assistance program that hurts states like Illinois,” she said. “In the meantime, we will work with our state and federal partners to identify any other available resources.”
While Illinois was denied, across the Mississippi River, Missouri received FEMA individual assistance funding, something Falconio said is odd due to the similarity between the flooding.
Falconio said its odd that Missouri received funding for what he said was nearly identical flooding, mostly from the same rivers, while Illinois was denied.
“It kind of seems like its the same flood but one state gets their request and another doesn’t,” he said. “We don’t have all the answers and we probably never will as to why, but again its disheartening and its disappointing.”
Resources for those affected by this year’s flooding including mortgage assistance, emergency housing, debris removal and more can be found atwww.illinois.gov/2019floods.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 6:00 AM.