Governor Bruce Rauner has submitted a request for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance to help people and businesses in Iroquois, Kankakee and Vermilion counties recover from severe storms and floods in February.
If approved, the SBA declaration would enable people and businesses in the three counties as well as those in contiguous counties to apply for low-interest, long-term loans.
“Many people are still working to fully recover from these devastating floods,” said Gov. Rauner. “If approved, these low-interest loans could speed up that process for many people and businesses.”
To be eligible for an SBA declaration, at least 25 homes and/or businesses in a county must sustain major, uninsured losses of 40 percent or more. A damage assessment conducted in March by the SBA determined 74 homes and nine businesses in Iroquois County, 28 homes and three businesses in Kankakee County, and 21 homes and seven businesses in Vermilion County met that criteria.
On April 11, the state of Illinois requested federal assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help people recover from the floods, but that request has been denied.
