Rockford Pushes For Disaster Declaration Following This Week’s Devastating Storms

The Stateline area has been working hard to clean up after this week's nasty storms, and city officials are wasting no time pushing for an official disaster declaration which would provide much-needed relief for homeowners.

Benefits of a Disaster Declaration

When a city or county gets nailed by massive flooding, storms, and tornados, the damage can be overwhelming for everyone. Homes get wrecked, businesses get shuttered, and local governments struggle to pick up the pieces alone.

Getting a disaster declaration from a city, state, and/or federal government basically says, "Hey, this is a big deal," and unlocks a whole toolbox of resources that makes the burden of clean up and rebuilding much easier to handle, especially for homeowners.

To receive an official disaster declaration, a slew of assessments need to be made, and City officials are currently in the process of checking all those boxes.

Hundreds of our community members are unable to live in their homes right now due to flooding conditions, extreme damage, no power, etc., and receiving a disaster declaration would help these residents recover and rebuild.

2nd Ward Alderman, Jonathan Logemann, recently told mystateline.com;

We’ve got to have IEMA (the Illinois Emergency Management Agency) step in and help out these residents here. It’s awful. It’s devastating.

To put it simply, disaster declarations often come with programs that can help individuals with things like temporary housing, food assistance, and even counseling.

If you were hit hard by this week's storms and need immediate help, a hotline has been set up to assist you. A press release from the City of Rockford says;

The Hotline is staffed by United Way volunteers who will be able to connect residents to available and appropriate agencies or resources. If resources are not currently available for a specific issue or concern, information will be gathered and residents will be contacted if resources are made available in the future.

If you are still reeling from the storms and the damage they caused, just breathe, relax, and pray that a disaster declaration be made soon.

We got this, Rockford!