Lake County blizzard costs exceed $4.4 million
Fighting the Blizzard of 2011 cost various Lake County entities more than $4.4 million, according to figures submitted Tuesday to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
That amount is more than double the federal threshold for potential reimbursement of various expenses. Though not analyzed by geography, the totals showed that no one appeared to be spared.
“They were pretty significant all across the county,” said C. Kent McKenzie, Lake County’s emergency management coordinator.
The report listed expenses for 117 entities, including villages, townships, school districts and departments within them in some cases.
Lake County listed about $492,000 in expenses from various sources. Among communities, Waukegan topped the list at $346,460 followed by Grayslake at $209,587 and Gurnee at $206,654.
Entities can claim reimbursement for pay and benefits of workers and contractors, material costs, equipment and facilities and other expenses.
The federal government for the first time required that snow emergency costs, such as plowing and moving snow, be listed separately from other emergency actions, like providing extra fire, rescue, police or other personnel in anticipation of increased need, for example.
For snow only, the Lake County Division of Transportation topped the list with nearly $265,000 in expenses. Waukegan listed more than $346,000 for snow only, while Highland Park cited about $195,000 and Grayslake about $194,000.
The state agency asked all counties to submit expenses by Tuesday, according to McKenzie. Those numbers will be crunched and a recommendation made to Gov. Pat Quinn on whether to apply for federal emergency or disaster declaration. Each county has to exceed a different per capita threshold number. In Lake County, that was $2.1 million.
“This storm affected the bulk of the state,” McKenzie said. “I would be surprised if we didn’t as a state meet the (federal) threshold.”
Quinn legally has 30 days from the time of the incident to make a formal request.