Chicago, Cook Co., DuPage Co., and State of Illinois to benefit from disaster recovery grants
WASHINGTON – September 4, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the allocation of nearly $29 million to the City of Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, and the State of Illinois to help these communities recover from devastating spring storms, strong winds and flooding. These grants are provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to support long-term disaster recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of ‘unmet need.’
The City of Chicago will receive $4.3 million; Cook County will receive $13.9 million; DuPage County will receive $7 million; and the State of Illinois will receive $3.6 million to support local recovery efforts following powerful storms and flooding that occurred from April 16th through May 5th.
|
Grantee |
Allocation |
| Chicago |
$4,300,000 |
| Cook County |
$13,900,000 |
| DuPage County |
$7,000,000 |
| State of Illinois |
$3,600,000 |
|
TOTAL |
$28,800,000 |
“Last Spring’s storms caused tremendous damage to homes and businesses throughout the Chicago area, creating needs that stretched beyond the limits of private insurance and other forms of public assistance,” said Donovan. “HUD is continuing to work closely with state and local partners to help them meet these remaining needs and promote locally driven recovery strategies.”
“The CDBG program is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said. “While the storm damage and floodwaters may not be around anymore, their impact remains. This funding will help make the county’s cities and local governments whole again while allowing them to better prepare for future storms.”
“This federal aid is good news for many communities across Illinois that were hit hard by the historic flooding this spring,” Governor Quinn said. “Thousands of Illinois residents have been significantly impacted by this natural disaster and this critical assistance will help our communities as they work to rebuild and recover. I thank President Obama and HUD Secretary Donovan for their swift response to aid our state.”
“These funds that Chicago will receive from HUD will strengthen the ongoing flood recovery efforts in throughout the city,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “It is critical that we support the communities affected by the floods as they rebuild and recover from the damage done this past Spring, and these resources will help bring economic stability to our neighborhoods, businesses, and homes.”
“These HUD funds are vital to Illinois communities as they continue to recover from the damaging storms that pounded the state in April and May,” said Antonio R. Riley, HUD’s Midwest Regional Administrator.
The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, signed into law by President Obama on January 29th, included $16 billion in CDBG-Disaster Recovery funding. Eight days later, HUD announced a first round of aid totaling $5.4 billion to five states and the City of New York impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Last March, HUD allocated a second round of assistance totaling $514 million to a number of state and local governments to recover from disasters that occurred in 2011 and 2012. The Department will announce additional allocations throughout the year based upon the level of remaining needs to help other states and local communities impacted by natural disasters in 2011through 2013.
HUD’s CDBG-Disaster Recovery grants are intended to confront housing, business and infrastructure needs beyond those addressed by other forms of public and private assistance. Using a combination of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), HUD identified those states and local requiring the greatest assistance to recover from devastating tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, flood events and destructive wildfires in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
HUD is required to use the best available disaster data in order to determine the relative level of ‘unmet needs’ in areas impacted by presidentially declared disasters that occurred in 2011, 2012 and 2013. As more disaster data becomes available, HUD will make additional CDBG-Disaster Recovery allocations to these impacted areas to assist in their long-term recovery activities, if deemed necessary. HUD will shortly publish a Notice that will regulate the use of the funds announced today. State and local grantees will then finalize disaster ‘action plans’ describing how they intend to expend these funds to support disaster recovery and HUD will quickly review them.
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.govand http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s Email List.
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the
need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build
inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and
http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at
www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s News Listserv.
Contact:
Brian Sullivan
(202) 708-0685
