Governor Pat Quinn is offering $45 million in state funding to help Illinois communities recover from November's deadly tornadoes. That’s after FEMA’s second denial for public disaster assistance. An estimated two dozen tornadoes hit Illinois Nov. 17, claiming seven lives and damaging or destroying thousands of homes, businesses and other structures. Quinn visited the hardest-hit town of Washington with his cabinet. He says the money will come from the state’s capital and emergency accounts. State Emergency Management Agency Director Jonathon Monken:
“The state assistance program that has been put together by the Governor in this instance is unprecedented in the state of Illinois. We’ve never done anything like it. $45 million is going to go an extremely long way to make sure that the promises made that these communities will rebuild is really going to come true,” Monken said.
Monken says impacted communities will have a point of contact in the state to help access funding. Quinn also visited the southern Illinois town of Brookport. Individual FEMA funding was provided to tornado victims. But that money does not address the cost of a community’s debris removal, the damage to public streets and utilities or the dramatic loss of property taxes.