FEMA begins preliminary damage assessments in Chicago after July floods

CBS News

16 hours ago

Some Chicago homeowners are still dealing the aftermath of the torrential rain that caused flooding at the end of July.
It's why the Federal Emergency Management Agency joined state, county, and city officials this week to go door-to-door in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood to survey the damage in one of the areas hit hardest by the storms.
Weeks later, some in Garfield Ridge were still dealing with cleanup from the flooding, so city, county, state, and federal partners began performing a preliminary damage assessment on Wednesday to get a sampling of the damage.
"We're out on the street today," Illinois Emergency Management Agency recovery division chief Greg Nimmo. "We're giving it everything we've got."
The preliminary damage assessment is the first step of a flood damage review before a state and local review that goes to the governor's office before making a formal request for federal disaster recovery assistance from the White House; all following the major storms that soaked Chicago for three consecutive days in late July.
"This is a necessary and preliminary step in order for the state to request federal assistance," said FEMA public affairs specialist Kim Keblish. "FEMA's mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters; and that's exactly what we're doing today."
Tony Biliskov said, in 52 years living in Garfield Ridge, "we learned don't put anything on the basement floor."
Biliskov and many others in Garfield Ridge suffered water damage in their homes, after water backed up into their basements from the city's overloaded sewer system.
"I had maybe about four inches of water in the basement," Biliskov said.
It's a problem he's all too familiar with.
"We used to get flooding all the time," he said.
Earlier this week, the city rolled out a new program installing 50 special flood sensors across the city to provide real-time alerts of flash flooding.
Experts have said for years that climate change is bringing more extreme weather and more rain.
With some Chicago neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the rainfall totals, flooding impacts parts of the city differently.
It's one reason the damage survey work is so important.
"This is a process. You know it's not a 'We come to your door and, by golly, you're going get a check tomorrow' kind of thing," Nimmo said.
The damage survey continues through Sunday.