By Illinois News Network
WATSEKA – Eleven more Illinois counties have been added by the governor to the disaster declaration after the recent flooding, bringing the total number to 23.
The declaration makes a variety of state resources available, according to the governor’s office, like sandbags, pumps, trucks, inmate crews and other resources to ensure public safety. During a stop in Iroquois County, which was declared a disaster area Tuesday, Gov. Bruce Rauner said the declarations are just the beginning of the recovery effort.
“There’s a public assistance where the federal government can reimburse government costs for the flood damage and the flood recovery expenses,” Rauner said. “There’s also individual assistance.”
In another county declared a disaster Tuesday, Sangamon County Administrator Brian McFadden said federal assistance could be available to buy out properties prone to floods, which has been done in previous floods that got federal assistance.
“The logical, the sensible, the more cost-efficient solution is to move those structures off the property and in the case of the county’s purchases, those properties are now considered natural areas and have been converted to park use,” McFadden said.
The governor’s office said if the state meets certain criteria through the federal government the state could be get a federal disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The other additional counties are Cass, Cumberland, Lawrence, Marion, Menard, Moultrie, Pike, Richland and Vermilion.
