ST. CLAIR COUNTY, IL – Two months after the federal disaster declaration for the July 25 - 28 flooding, more than $25.2 million in federal funds has been provided directly to disaster survivors to aid in their recovery.
Federal assistance for survivors includes grants from FEMA and low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Policyholders in the National Flood Insurance Program have also been receiving payouts for their claims.
FEMA Individual Assistance: Homeowners and Renters
As of December 20, survivors in St. Clair County have received more than $19.5 million through funding from FEMA.
- Of that, more than $16.3 million in housing assistance grants have been approved to go directly to homeowners and renters to help pay for home repair and rental assistance for temporary housing.
- More than $3.1 million has been provided to residents to replace damaged personal property as well as expenses for transportation, medical and other disaster-related needs.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
The SBA has approved more than $4.5 million in low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and businesses to repair, rebuild and replace damaged property and contents. SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
NFIP policyholders received more than $1.1 million from claims to repair and rebuild flood-damaged property.
Disaster Survivor Assistance
FEMA disaster survivor assistance specialists canvassed the affected communities and interacted with survivors to encourage them to register for help, while providing them with recovery information and listening to their concerns.
Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC)
How to Apply for FEMA Assistance
The deadline for survivors to apply for federal aid is December 22, 2022. There are several ways to apply:
- Online at www.disasterassistance.gov.
- Download and use the FEMA mobile app to apply on your smartphone or tablet
- Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 open seven days a week
- If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA the number for that service. The Helpline is open seven days a week. Press 2 for Spanish or 3 for an interpreter who speaks your language.
- Apply in person at the DRC location:
Clyde Jordan Senior Citizen Center – 6755 State St., East St. Louis, IL 62203
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m
Closes permanently on December 22, at 6 p.m.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against call FEMA toll-free at 833-285-7448. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the umber for that service. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages).
For disaster updates from FEMA, follow @FEMAregion5 on Twitter, and turn on mobile notifications. Visit the disaster webpage at fema.gov/disaster/4676.
For disaster updates from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), follow @ReadyIllinois on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and turn on mobile notifications. http://www.illinois.gov/iema/ continues to be a go-to, single source to help Illinois residents easily find information and disaster-related resources.
###
FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during and after disasters.