CHICAGO: Last week, City of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued respective disaster proclamations to assist residents in recovering from flooding that took place July 25-28. By signing these proclamations, the City of Chicago and Cook County can pursue all available resources to assist communities and residents in their recovery efforts.

If any resident sustained damage from late-July storms and flooding, a quick in-person review of the level of damage is key to having the state of Illinois request federal disaster recovery assistance for those impacted. To handle those reviews, preliminary damage assessment (PDA) teams will be in Chicago beginning Wednesday, August 13 through Sunday, August 17 to get a sampling of the damage.

Recovery teams have been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and they will be asking if any homeowner, renter, or business owner with damage take part in the joint PDAs if available. If you have already filled out the online survey plus reported ‘Water in Basement’ to 3-1-1, we already have your address to be able to visit.

Joint PDAs will help all of us find out if there was enough damage to qualify for a state disaster proclamation as well as FEMA or U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance. While you might think an SBA loan isn’t for you, those low-interest and long-term loans can help homeowners and renters with disaster recovery costs.

Facts about joint PDAs:

· Team members will include FEMA, SBA, IEMA-OHS, and local emergency management staff from Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications

· Joint PDA staff will have photo identification

· Teams do not enter your home

· PDA teams do not use contractors or ask for payment for anything (https://ready.illinois.gov/after/beware-of-scams.html) (https://www.fema.gov/about/offices/security/disaster-fraud)

· Bi-lingual staff will be available

· There will be multiple teams working across the city and county

· Data collection is for the city and county to qualify for assistance, so don’t worry if you don’t get a visit

· Contact your homeowners or rental insurance to learn if you are covered, and if so, by how much

· If you haven’t already reported ‘Water in Basement’ to 3-1-1, do so now.

The City of Chicago and Cook County continue to collaborate with various non-profit organizations and city agencies to ensure resident needs are being met in the aftermath of the flood. Additionally, OEMC, EMRS, and IEMA will continue to coordinate recovery efforts across impacted communities and will pursue all available disaster assistance.