PEORIA, Ill. -- State and Federal officials will hold seven briefings to help State, eligible local governments and private non-profit organizations in 18 counties apply for federal disaster assistance in the wake of the Nov. 30 to Dec.1 severe winter storm.
The joint announcement was made by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s (IEMA) Director William C. Burke and U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Federal Coordinating Officer Michael H. Smith. Officials from IEMA and FEMA will provide information about the scope of the public assistance program. After the briefings, teams of state and federal inspectors will schedule meetings with local officials to inspect disaster-related damages and associated costs.
The briefings are scheduled for:
Tuesday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m.
Richland Community College, Shilling Center, 1 College Park Drive, Decatur for De Witt, Macon and Piatt counties.
Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2 p.m.
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Orr Building, Springfield for Sangamon and Logan counties.
Wednesday, Feb. 21, 10 a.m.
Manners Park Dining Hall, Manners Park, Taylorville for Christian, Montgomery and Shelby counties.
Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2 p.m.
Blackburn College, Bothwell Auditorium, University Street, Carlinville for Calhoun, Jersey and Macoupin counties.
Thursday, Feb. 22, 10:30 a.m.
Southwestern Illinois College, Theater Room, 2nd Floor, 2500 Carlyle
Avenue, Belleville for Monroe and St. Clair counties.
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m.
Lewis and Clark College, Trimpe Advance Technical Center, 5800 Godfrey
Road, Godfrey for Bond, Fayette and Madison counties.
Friday, Feb. 23.10:30 a.m.
McLean County Law & Justice Center, (EOC in basement), 104 W. Front
Street, Bloomington for McLean and Woodford counties.
At the request of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, President Bush issued a major disaster declaration on Feb. 9 for 18 counties eligible for federal aid in the area struck by the severe winter storm during the incident period Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. The designated counties are Bond, Calhoun, Christian, De Witt, Fayette, Jersey, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, McLean, Monroe, Montgomery, Piatt, Sangamon, Shelby, St. Clair and Woodford.
With the major disaster declaration for Public Assistance (Infrastructure), affected local governments and certain private non-profit organizations in these counties became eligible to apply for federal assistance to fund 75 percent of the approved costs for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
The deadline for local officials to submit a one-page Request for Public Assistance to IEMA is March 12.
While the declaration can not provide direct assistance to individuals, the Public Assistance program can and does reimburse eligible costs for community organizations or faith-based groups that provided emergency sheltering during the initial local response. Reimbursement to individuals for power outages and spoiled food has never been available from FEMA under any disaster program, and the cost of removing tree limbs from private property has only been considered when it was determined to present a threat to public health and safety. Individuals should contact local faith-based or community groups if they still have disaster needs.
The President also issued an emergency snow declaration on Dec. 29, 2006, designating 26 Illinois counties that experienced record or near-record snowfall Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 eligible for financial assistance for snow-removal expenditures. <...>