City issues disaster proclamation for areas affected by rain, flooding

The city of Chicago issued a disaster proclamation Tuesday, officially acknowledging the damage to homes from flooding between Aug. 16 and 19.

During the three days, a combination of torrential rainfall and damaging winds, flooded homes, left large pools in neighborhood streets and caused power outages across the city, including in Gage Park, West Englewood and parts of Austin.

The proclamation enables the city and Cook County to seek all available resources to assist communities and residents in their recovery efforts. Some areas in Chicago were in the process of recovering from the July floods when they were hit again by this month’s storms.

The Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security (EMRS) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) have begun reviewing the damage from the severe storms and flash flooding last week. The agencies asked residents who were impacted to submit an initial damage assessment.

Based on the 4,359 resident responses that were received across the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County as of last week, 32 residences are considered destroyed; 1,893 are considered to have sustained major damage; and 1,827 had minor damage. An additional 600 homes were also impacted, but the level of damage is not known.

“Issuing this disaster proclamation is a necessary step to address the severe damage from recent floods in Chicago and Cook County that especially affected our most vulnerable neighborhoods,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in the statement.

The objective of the survey was to assess the extent of storm-related damage across the state and initiate the disaster assessment process to determine potential eligibility for federal assistance.

This marks the second disaster proclamation of the summer from the city and Cook County, with the first one issued at the end of July when flooding between July 25 and 28 impacted at least 3,000 residents, destroying nearly 100 homes and affecting another 3,000.

Officials are also exploring reimbursement from the federal government for expenses incurred by city and suburban agencies during the storm cleanup.

After the disaster proclamation in July, alderpersonss from the city’s Southwest Side wrote to Johnson seeking stronger mitigation efforts and funding for city infrastructure improvements. The City Council members wanted “back flow” valves installed, costing $10,000 to $15,000 per building, and they urged the mayor’s office to use existing water and sewer fund allocations.