FEMA says no to Lake County flood aid

Lake County municipalities will not receive any state or federal money to help cover costs associated with flooding last August, local officials said.

An estimated $1 million was spent countywide on personnel overtime, supplies and other costs to battle flooding and clean up the damage.

Antioch, Fox Lake and Gurnee were hardest hit last August and September when heavy rains in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin spawned flooding along the Fox River, Chain O' Lakes and Des Plaines River.

An angry Fox Lake Mayor Cindy Irwin, whose town spent about $100,000 in flood costs, said she was told a different story by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"He stood with me in the flood area and said he would help, and in the end, we never got a penny," Irwin said Wednesday. "We can't afford this. We are doing all we can with our budget in this bad economic time, and now we have to deal with this on top of it."

Low-interest loans and grants are still available to homeowners through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help repair private property damaged by the floods.

At issue for local governments, said Kent McKenzie, head of Lake County's emergency services disaster agency, is the formula used by FEMA to determine aid.

McKenzie said Lake County's flood-related cost was not high enough. According to FEMA's equations, the county needed to spend about $3.15 for each resident -- not just those in flooded areas -- to get federal money. Based on the county's population, that would have totaled $2 million.

"The constraints that FEMA uses are skewed against large metropolitan counties," he said. "It's unfortunate those constraints penalize smaller governments within a larger county, like Lake County."

FEMA officials claim math is not the only factor that goes into determination.

Aric Schmidt, a FEMA spokesman, said the decision was made by officials in Washington in late October after an elaborate process involving damage assessment tours with state and local officials.

"The overall decision was made in D.C., but only after the assessments were made and the data was signed by everyone involved," Schmidt said. "When it was determined public assistance wasn't available, the municipalities were allowed to appeal the decision, and go back to the IEMA for assistance."

Lake County officials say they learned of FEMA's decision in late 2007 or early 2008. Antioch officials said they first heard of it Wednesday.

Patti Thompson, a spokeswoman with Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said the state assistance made available under a disaster declaration involved physical assets -- such as sandbags -- and personnel to help during response and recovery.

"At this time, there have been no discussions about financial reimbursement from the state to local governments for their flood-related expenses," she said.

This isn't the first time local officials say they were left holding the bag for flood costs.

It also happened in 2004, when flooding damaged property along the Des Plaines River in Gurnee, Mount Prospect and Des Plaines, and along the Chain and Fox River in Antioch and Fox Lake.

At the time, Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia and former Gurnee Mayor Donald Rudny said they were promised relief from the state, only to be stuck with the tab.

They said state officials had blamed a lack of money in the state's disaster relief fund as the reason villages were reimbursed.

Antioch Mayor Dorothy Larson said she's shocked Lake County is not eligible for aid this time around.

"It was a huge event that happened here. We don't ask for much, but when something happens, they have to step up to the plate," Larson said. "It's an indication of state and federal dropping the ball on things, and it shouldn't happen."