By Eric Stock
WASHINGTON – Washington, Ill. has recovered without much help from Washington D.C. following a devastating tornado in 2013.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) toured the community Wednesday with Mayor Gary Manier and met with survivors of the EF-4 tornado that destroyed 11-hundred homes. The city – and nine Illinois counties – were denied FEMA relief based on a formula that Kirk said is outdated.
“Under the current formula Illinois would have to have a minimum of $18 million just in one county, which is a tremendous amount of damage, even to trigger the need for FEMA helped.”
Kirk and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have pushed a measure that would require FEMA to take into consideration local economic factors before determining whether a community would qualify.
Eric Stock can be reached at eric.stock@cumulus.com.
