CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Teams of emergency management officials will be spreading out across the city’s West Side and the western suburbs to assess flooding damage caused by heavy rains earlier this month.
Ten teams are going door-to-door all week to assess damage from the storms that happened between June 29 and July 2.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 5 Director Tom Sivak said surveyors want to hear people’s stories and the extent of damage in their homes. He said residents should not wait for possible federal help before starting to clean up.
“We want you to take pictures,” Sivak said. “We want you to share your information of what took place, and we want to make sure you work with your insurance companies, work with local emergency management authorities.”
Based on the information provided to emergency management teams, federal officials will decide whether to recommend a disaster declaration from President Joe Biden, which would make FEMA dollars available to residents.
Greg Nimmo of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said the teams will primarily going door-to-door in the city’s Austin neighborhood, as well as in Berwyn, Cicero and Stickney.
Nimmo said the teams do not have to visit every household that has suffered damage.
“We have to get a strong representation of what that damage looks like,” he said. “The initial numbers showed in excess of 18,000 potential people that had damage. If we were to visit every door, we’re talking weeks and months to get that done.”
The disaster experts said people should not hold off on cleaning up their homes from flood damage but should take pictures and gather documentation.
Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar said the problem is more than damage caused by three days of heavy rains. He said the region’s sewer system needs to be upgraded.
“We have to contact our federal representatives and send a message to Washington,” he said. “This system’s been over 100 years old. We need to upgrade them.”
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