*** UPDATE *** Not much of a surprise. There will be an appeal. From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today issued the following statement regarding the state’s efforts to secure federal assistance for people affected by the Feb. 29 tornado.
“Today I spoke with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and informed her that we intend to appeal FEMA’s denial of our request for much-needed individual assistance for the people of Southern Illinois. I urged Secretary Napolitano to reconsider FEMA’s decision. We are doing everything possible at the state level to help these devastated communities, but some of the assistance that our residents need to begin rebuilding their lives is only available through a federal disaster declaration.
“I met with local officials, spent time with residents and saw firsthand the devastation and damage caused by the tornado in Southern Illinois. FEMA underestimated the impact this deadly tornado had on small towns like Harrisburg and Ridgway. We have already begun work on our appeal of this decision in order to secure federal assistance.
“I am grateful to Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Mark Kirk and the Illinois Congressional Delegation for their vigorous support of our efforts to bring assistance to the people whose lives were ripped apart by the Feb. 29 tornado. We are hopeful our joint efforts will help FEMA understand that a full recovery from this disaster cannot happen without their support.”
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* The state applied for a federal disaster declaration after a devastating tornado hit Harrisburg. It was thought to be a routine request, particularly since President Obama himself had expressed his concern about the tragedy. FEMA sent this letter to Illinois on Saturday…
Based on our review of all of the information available, it has been determined that the damage was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the State, affected local governments, and voluntary agencies. Accordingly, we have determined that supplemental Federal assistance is not necessary. Therefore, I must inform you that your request for a major disaster declaration is denied.
Hey, FEMA, I got news for you clowns: Anything that costs more than about $1.85 is beyond Illinois’ capabilities right now. Sheesh.
* React…
Harrisburg Mayor Eric Gregg said he was confused by FEMA’s denial and questioned what criteria the agency used to evaluate the damage.
“How was the decision made, who made the decision and why was it made? I think that’s a fair question that needs to be answered, of course, to those that lost everything. I think there are going to be a lot of discussions in the days ahead,” Gregg told WSIL-TV.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk also issued a statement Sunday denouncing the ruling and seeking a meeting with FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate to discuss the decision, which they called “unacceptable.” […]
“I can’t believe this,” Durbin said Sunday in Springfield, according to The State Journal-Register. “I’ve never seen worse tornado damage. We owe it to the people to make sure … everything was accounted for.”
* From a Gov. Pat Quinn press release…
“I am extremely disappointed that FEMA denied our request for federal assistance that is needed to help people in Harrisburg, Ridgway and the other communities devastated by this deadly tornado. After personally surveying the damage and talking to many residents who lost their homes, I firmly believe federal assistance is crucial to help them begin the recovery process.
“I support Senator Dick Durbin’s efforts to encourage federal officials to reconsider their decision. In the meantime, I have directed Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Jonathon Monken to continue working with local officials to ensure that we do everything possible to secure critical assistance.”
- Stones - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:16 am:
Very unusual. I don’t think we’ve heard the end of this story.
- Wensicia - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:20 am:
Perfect headline. This could make them look worse than the Katrina debacle, at least locally.
- Plutocrat03 - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:28 am:
Not a surprise. FEMA uses the population of a State when making their assessment.
Because you have to factor in the population of Chicago, the bar for Federal support is very high.
A number of years ago, our community was hit with terrible flooding which resulted in massive property damage. Blago flew in for his photo ops in his State helicopter. No Federal disaster was declared and the State’s aid coffers were empty.
It sucked to be us then.
- Hank - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:30 am:
This could make them look worse than the Katrina debacle, at least locally…….. where is Kanye West when you need him? That darn Bush doesn’t care about Harrisburg!!
- Solomon - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:30 am:
At this point Southern Illinois just needs to start building homes out of adamantium.
- girlawyer - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:34 am:
I figured that’s what we had to look forward to if the Republican “make the federal government so small you won’t know it’s there” plan was adopted. Didn’t think we were there already.
- JoeVerdeal - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:34 am:
As I understand it, the FEMA logic is that losses of individuals are covered by private homeowner insurance policies. Extraordinary disaster-related expenses paid by local government are “just tough luck” as far as the Feds are concerned.
The funny thing is that Southern Illinoisans have a dog-like loyalty to the Democrats and will probably vote for Obama anyway. He can kick ‘em, refuse ‘em and abuse ‘em and they will turn out for him at election time…..dummies.
- OldSmoky2 - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:36 am:
I remind everyone of last fall, when U.S. House Republicans said any new FEMA funds dispersed should be matched by corresponding cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. “Change like this is hard,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said afterward. “We’ll find a way forward so that we can reflect expectations that taxpayers have that we are going to begin to start spending their money more prudently.”
The standards for FEMA disaster declarations appear to have gone up since then. I would guess Harrisburg would have easily qualified had this happened before the Tea Partiers made it to Washington.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:44 am:
Oh yeah, Joe, I’m sure President Obama personally called FEMA and told them to tell Harrisburg to suck it up.
- Newsclown - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:45 am:
What would the FEMA money specifically have gone toward? I’m guessing infrastructure damage like rails and roads and bridges, maybe some power lines or cel towers. Reimbursements to the state for state spending on those things? Loan assistance for rebuilding efforts?
- JoeVerdeal - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:52 am:
Well, Cheryl44, I doubt that it was a sin of commission…..more likely one of omission.
Our President does have a lot on his mind right now…..deliberating on where to go on vacation next, etc. Those Harrisburg folks down there can just go hang, in the mean time.
I guess I should go look in the mirror and yell at my own image……I voted for our dear leader.
- MrJM - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:55 am:
Outrageous.
– MrJM
- mokenavince - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 11:57 am:
Who in FEMA would be dumb enough in to write a letter denying a President’s home State aid.In any year it would be bad but in an election year,
unheard of. Heads will roll.
- Small Town Liberal - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:02 pm:
- Our President does have a lot on his mind right now…..deliberating on where to go on vacation next, etc. Those Harrisburg folks down there can just go hang, in the mean time. -
Really? The best you can do is regurgitate some lies you saw on Fox news about Obama’s vacation time? People might take you seriously if you took the time to google a few things before spouting off.
That said this is truly a shame and I hope the appeal is successful.
- Aristotle - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:03 pm:
Why spend money in a non-swing state?
- mokenavince - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:04 pm:
Time will prove Joe wrong.FEMA will change their
minds.
- Colossus - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:08 pm:
@Solomon - given the difficulties in synthesizing adamantium, as well as it’s high toxicity, I think it might be prudent to pursue a dialogue with Wakanda for access to their vibranium supply.
Unless we can get Omega Red on board to allow access to his carbonadium synthesizer…
- Solomon - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:09 pm:
“Really? The best you can do is regurgitate some lies you saw on Fox news about Obama’s vacation time? People might take you seriously if you took the time to google a few things before spouting off.”
Agreed. But it’s odd that you don’t share that outrage toward OldSmoky attempting to blame the Tea Party for FEMA’s decisions.
- Solomon - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:12 pm:
“Unless we can get Omega Red on board to allow access to his carbonadium synthesizer… ”
Carbonadium is too radioactive for civilian use, even in Carbondale. (okay bad joke but whatever it was hanging there)
- soccermom - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:44 pm:
This is ridiculous. I can’t believe this decision won’t be reversed on appeal.
- TwoFeetThick - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:46 pm:
===Agreed. But it’s odd that you don’t share that outrage toward OldSmoky attempting to blame the Tea Party for FEMA’s decisions.===
FACT: According to figures on Factcheck.org, Fox News is not being truthful about its claims regarding Obama and vacation days. In his first year as president, Obama took 26 days; George W. took 69.
FACT: tea party-driven Republicans really did tie disaster funding to cuts elsewhere in the budget.
As I recall, tea party folks backed down and disaster relief was provided without offsets, but it’s certainly not a stretch to blame that shrivel-the-government-until-you-can-drown-it-in-a-bathtub attitude for the rationing of relief funding.
- Colossus - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:49 pm:
~slow clap~
We can put this bit of early 90s X-Men trivia to bed now.
- Anonymous - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 12:51 pm:
FEMA has to pay attention to laws rules and, unlike JoeVerdeal, real numbers. While I would hope the FEMA result changes, I doubt it. The devastation was total but in a small area and it would be difficult to say it overwhelmed the resources of local and state authorities as required for federal assistance, as required. Local certainty, but not also state. As for Southern Illinoisans dog-like loyalty to the Democrats, four counties, outside of Metro East, in Southern Illinois were carried by Obama. Not clear what this has to do with it Joe. Find some other way to insult Little Egypt.
- JP - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:05 pm:
Tell me again why we can’t have offsets, say against funneling money to Solyndra, so that we would have some funds available for disasters such as Harrisburg?
JBP
- just sayin' - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:24 pm:
Not to be an a**, but I assume it’s misleading at best to say Mark Kirk “issued a statement.” His office mayabe
- Huh? - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:25 pm:
A few years ago, Utica (near Starved Rock) got blown away by a tornado and got FEMA help.
It seems to be something of a double standard or somebody out to cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble.
- Secret Square - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:28 pm:
The last time we had a tornado this deadly in Illinois was in Utica in 2004. That time, the head of FEMA (Michael Brown — the guy who got canned after Katrina) personally visited the village himself to view the damage and pledge assistance.
Bear in mind, though, that there are different types of aid that FEMA provides and just because they don’t offer individual assistance doesn’t mean they won’t offer assistance with rebuilding infrastructure or other public facilities.
As for whether the Tea Party had anything to do with this: that I don’t know, but fiscal responsibility and disaster assistance are NOT mutually exclusive. I think the idea is that the less the government spends on unneeded programs or pork projects, the more money it will have left to help when bona fide emergencies happen.
- Just Me - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:32 pm:
Similar to Secret Square, I would want to know if Illinois applied for the right kind of assistance. It wouldn’t surprise me if the 19-year old running IEMA forgot to fill out his form in triplicate.
Also, FEMA basiscally said, “You should be able to handle this problem yourself.” (Emphasis on “should”, if our State wasn’t such a mess right now maybe we would be able to take care of ourselves.)
- soccermom - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:32 pm:
@Secret Square — What other kinds of assistance are available from FEMA? Is there a reason Illinois only asked for individual assistance? And does anybody know the dollar value of the damage in Harrisburg?
- prairiestatedem - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:46 pm:
Put the politics aside, this isnt the time…the folks in Harrisburg are in greater need then other areas I have seen declared a disaster area. Also did the Missouri,Kentucky and Indiana towns who suffered damage in the same Tornado outbreak get their disaster declarations denied. Hopefully this is just a mistake by some moron who works for FEMA. Southern Illinois will not be denied its deserved federal assistance. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Harrisburg as they rebuild.
- Small Town Liberal - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:54 pm:
Just Me - I kind of doubt FEMA would have issued that statement if the proper paperwork hadn’t been submitted.
- Secret Square - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 1:59 pm:
@soccermom: FEMA hasn’t yet made a decision on aid to local governments impacted by the Harrisburg tornado, so perhaps the outcome there will be different.
- WazUp - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:05 pm:
Maybe the Prez wants to ride in on the white horse to save the day..page from the good Pat bad Pat playbook?
- Demoralized - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:09 pm:
JP:
Disaster aid should NEVER be considered in the political realm that you are referring to. It should ALWAYS be an automatic release of money when it is warranted. This move to tie it to the overall budget is the most screwball position I think I’ve seen anybody take.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:25 pm:
Here’s what Eric Cantor has to say about disaster relief: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/29/news/la-pn-fema-budget-20110829
- Allen Skillicorn - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:28 pm:
IL only gets back about $.75 for every dollar we send to Washington. That’s a very low return on our investment.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/26.html
Either our taxes are too high or Sen Durbin and others are ineffective emissaries for us taxpayers.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:35 pm:
===Either our taxes are too high or Sen Durbin and others are ineffective emissaries for us taxpayers. ===
It’s neither.
The South has always sucked federal money down its drain.
Remember the Great Flood of 1993? One reason we got flooded so badly up North is because of the billions in flood control spent down South. The water simply backed up on us.
Just one example. Billions more.
- Hickory - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:51 pm:
In just a few years the State of Illinois will have been a part of the USA for 200 years. Any prudent entity would have a contingency fund to take care of Harrisburg.
- Secret Square - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 2:58 pm:
“did the Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana towns who suffered damage in the same tornado outbreak get their disaster declarations denied?”
Visit this link to see all of the federal disasters declared so far this year:
www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema
IN and KY do have federal disaster declarations, but for a different tornado outbreak that occurred on March 2, several days AFTER Harrisburg. I see none listed for MO or IL at this point.
- Secret Square - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 3:02 pm:
Correction: the KY and IN federal disaster declarations cover the period 2/29 through 3/2 so both tornado outbreaks are included.
- KDB - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 3:05 pm:
It has been my experience that there is usually a rush to get the State declaration made and present a formal letter to FEMA for a National declaration. In doing this they have little time to have the local ESDA offices present IEMA with the full damage numbers, however it gets the ball rolling on the process. If the request is denied then the state has something like 30 days to appeal, in that time they can retrieve more damage totals and more than likely reach the threshold. Look back at the flooding in 2008 or 2009 in Livingston and Iroqouis Counties, similar timeline. I would think that this has a pretty decent chance of being overturned.
- Quinn T. Sential - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 4:06 pm:
The issue in Harrisburg is two-fold:
(1) There is a statewide damage assessment threshold which must be met in order to qualify. The threhsold is established based on population, and is further divided by county. So; for example, the state could meets its threshold by exceeding the threshold in a small number of counties.
In addition; as an anamoly the damagre threshold to qualify for federal disaster assistance in Cook County, is greater than it is on a statewide basis due to the concentration of population.
I don’t have the damage threshold for Saline County right at my fingertips at the moment, but suffice to say that FEMA’S initial review suggests the threshold for Saline County has not yet been met.
(2) FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program is predicated based on UN-INSURED DAMAGE, as opposed to total damage. As a consequence, while the damage in Saline County may be signfiicant, and concentrated in Harrisburg, it is not FEMA’S role to bail out State Farm, Allstate, Country Companies etc. from paying claims for their insured clients. When subtract the number of uninsured impacted homeowners or tenants, the total numbers may be small, but for those impacted it is certainly devastating. In this instance FEMA is saying, that it should not fall to the rest of the nation to subsidize the fact that a small number of homeowners failed to have insurance.
The PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; reimbursement to state and local government for its role in disaster response and recovery costs, is a different story all together, however once those expenditures are offset by mutual aid, donated labor, and the state, there may be little left for FEMA to reimburse.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 4:21 pm:
…it is not FEMA’S role to bail out State Farm, Allstate, Country Companies etc. from paying claims for their insured clients…
I needed to see that again.
- Judgment Day - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 5:45 pm:
“FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program is predicated based on UN-INSURED DAMAGE, as opposed to total damage”
Quinn T. Sential has the story (mostly). If you go back in time to 2009(?), there was an outbreak of severe storms, including tornados that impacted both Streator, IL and Pontiac, IL. Lots of damage, some deaths, and destruction - much more than what happened down in Southern Illinois with this latest outbreak. Carried all the way into Ohio.
Most of the individual damage was covered by private insurance, so the claims for a national declaration from FEMA were also denied.
It’s not politics. There is a problem, but it’s not political - it’s structural. Hurricanes, earthquakes and floods are going to have a higher success rate for FEMA declarations than are severe storms/tornados, because for hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, there’s normally less private insurance coverage. So there’s more unreimbursed damage for FEMA to consider.
Also, the Damage Assessment efforts (individual properties) for Southern Illinois are generally handled by FEMA or a scratch team of inspectors pulled together at the last minute. It comes down to this: If there’s a shaky job done in data collection (damage assessment), don’t complain about the results.
Not surprised. And it’s not political in terms of Democratic-Republican politics. But fair - probably not.
- Newsclown - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 6:06 pm:
WLS spent most of their day painting the FEMA rejection as a personal attack on our state by a heartless Obama. I should know by now not to even tune that station in if Roe’s on vacation.
- Just The Way It Is One - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 6:28 pm:
All formalities aside, this is an Election Year, we have abject devastation down there (my Goodness, the pictures tell enough of the story–it looks like a BOMB was dropped on our poor neighbors in this small town Downstate!),several precious Illinoisans lives have been lost, many others injured, and the PRESIDENT of the United States in THIS Administration, when this tragedy occurred under his Watch, is FROM here! For Lands’ Sake, whatever happened to “pullin’ some strings” once in awhile to get the right thing done? After this initial ruling, I’m sure come November, Southern Illinoisans would undoubtedly remember this outcome, if unaltered, and’ll hardly show up at the Ballot Box with the happy thought/caption of “FAVORITE Son” next to Mr. Obama’s name!!!
- Ridge - Monday, Mar 12, 12 @ 6:33 pm:
Everyone likes austerity til they need generosity.
Hickory said “In just a few years the State of Illinois will have been a part ofthe USA for 200 years. Any prudent entity would have a contingency fund to take care of Harrisburg.”
That presumes having two parties (or at least one party w. a big enough supermajority) willing to set aside a rainy day fund that collects dust til needed.
Yet we have an opposition party in this state so unwilling to raise even a few pennies in revenue that they are blocking taxes on cigarettes…
- Secret Square - Tuesday, Mar 13, 12 @ 5:58 am:
It isn’t just IL either. MO got turned down for assistance for damage due to tornadoes that were part of the same outbreak (including the one that hit Branson):
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/fema-turns-down-missouri-illinois-for-disaster-aid/article_d747e9e7-cb2b-56e5-b4e4-cfbbe85e95aa.html?mode=story
Their governor, however, isn’t appealing the denial — he says it could hold up the process of getting assistance from the Small Business Administration. That’s the first time I’ve heard the SBA mentioned. Could S. IL get assistance from them as well?
- Quinn T. Sential - Tuesday, Mar 13, 12 @ 6:17 am:
The SBA provides low interest LOANS to qualified homeowners and small business to assist them in repairing or replacing property and for businesses, remaining in business during a period of interruption and recovering by getting their business back up to speed.
Under the SBA program Renters and homeowners are eligible to borrow up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property contents to dwelling units that was damaged or destroyed in the disaster, and up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence but only to bring it back to to its pre-disaster condition.
These LOANS must be repaid. For applicants without access to credit elsewhere the interest rate will not exceed 4 percent. For those who can obtain credit elsewhere, the interest rate is capped at 8 percent.
Individual Assistance to eligible homeowners comes in the form of GRANTS, which do not require repayment.
Individual Housing Assistance is provided as follows:
•Temporary Housing (a place to live for a limited period of time): Money is available to rent a different place to live, or a government provided housing unit when rental properties are not available.
•Repair: Money is available to homeowners to repair damage from the disaster to their primary residence that is not covered by insurance. The goal is to make the damaged home safe, sanitary, and functional.
•Replacement: Money is available to homeowners to replace their home destroyed in the disaster that is not covered by insurance. The goal is to help the homeowner with the cost of replacing their destroyed home.
•Permanent Housing Construction: Direct assistance or money for the construction of a home. This type of help occurs only in insular areas or remote locations specified by FEMA, where no other type of housing assistance is possible.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 13, 12 @ 6:52 am:
Some Brownie at FEMA ain’t doing a heckuva job. Sen. Durbin, check your messages. This is what you get the big money for.