FEMA Denies State Appeal for Flooding Relief

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Friday denied the state's appeal for federal assistance to help local governments in several counties recover from severe flooding and storms in late December and early January.

Illinois EMA Director James Joseph said, "The process is supposed to take into account a multitude of factors, but this denial demonstrates that only the numbers really matter. States with high populations concentrated in urban areas, such as we have in northeastern Illinois, often struggle to reach their thresholds, particularly when the impacts are in rural, sparsely populated areas of the state. Once again, our poorest communities continue to suffer because of this unfair process."

Cumberland and Clark counties would have shared in nearly $16.8 million in local government costs. Under federal rules, the State cannot submit another appeal for federal assistance.