Quigley Announces Nearly $29 Million to Help Chicago Area and Illinois Recover from Spring Flooding

CHICAGO — Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) 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 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (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 nearly $29 million provided today is welcome news for the communities and businesses still rebuilding from the devastating storms that ravaged our area," said Rep. Quigley. "Extreme weather events are striking with increased regularity, making the CDBG program more vital than ever to recovery efforts. I will continue using my position on the Appropriations Committee to fight the massive cuts to this important program that were proposed earlier this year."

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 a spate of powerful storms and flooding that occurred from April 16th through May 5th.

Rep. Quigley has urged the federal government to provide as much flood recovery aid to Cook and DuPage counties as possible. As a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, he has prioritized Chicago-area investments in transportation, housing and infrastructure. Earlier this year, he voted to restore CDBG funding in the FY14 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) Appropriations bill to the FY13 level after it was zeroed out in the bill.

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 areas requiring the greatest assistance to recover from devastating tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, flood events and destructive wildfires in 2011, 2012, and 2013.