{"id":10010,"date":"2026-02-10T13:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/10\/illinois-appeal-for-summer-storm-disaster-relief-denied-by-trump-administration-wbez-chicago\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:39:07","slug":"illinois-appeal-for-summer-storm-disaster-relief-denied-by-trump-administration-wbez-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/10\/illinois-appeal-for-summer-storm-disaster-relief-denied-by-trump-administration-wbez-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois appeal for summer storm disaster relief denied by Trump administration &#8211; WBEZ Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<figure><a id=\"image-8e0001\" name=\"image-8e0001\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"><\/a>         <picture data-crop=\"overlay-medium\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"2900\" height=\"1631\"  loading=\"lazy\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"2900\" height=\"1631\"  loading=\"lazy\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"820\" height=\"461\"  loading=\"lazy\"><source width=\"820\" height=\"461\"  loading=\"lazy\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Yuriria Buenrostro shows off the area where they had to remove carpet squares that were damaged from the flooding at her home in Gage Park, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. \"  width=\"820\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/8c6994f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5998x3372+0+314\/resize\/820x461!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F13%2F24%2F97dc5c2448c8af3dccb3f448c4e3%2Fflooding-082025-06.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\">  <\/picture>\n<div><figcaption>\n<p>Yuriria Buenrostro shows the area where carpet squares damaged from flooding at her Gage Park home had to be removed Aug. 19, 2025. Several other Gage Park residents sustained storm damage.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><p>Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><a aria-label=\"home page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wbez.org\/\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/76\/9a\/93bf26c94cf28fc304cadf87cd8e\/wbez-logo-white-red.svg\" alt=\"WBEZ Standard Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"25\">          <\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>In two letters sent to President Donald Trump last year, Gov. JB Pritzker said the intense rainfall overwhelmed Chicago\u2019s sewer system on the Southwest Side as well as in Cicero and other suburbs, hurting many \u201ceconomically vulnerable\u201d residents.<\/h2>\n<div><bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=\"1770723000000\">             <template data-date-tpl>[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]<\/template>             <span data-date>\u00a0<\/span>         <\/bsp-timestamp>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-modulewell xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">             <main data-module data-padding=\"none\" data-width=\"full-constrained\">                                                                                                                               <bsp-article-page-body data-inline-affordance-override=\"false\" data-inline-affordance-position=\"2\" data-hide-email-wall=\"false\">                                                  <bsp-email-wall>     <\/p>\n<form method=\"POST\">\n<div>\n<h3>                 Read this story for free.             <\/h3>\n<p>                 To continue reading, sign up for The Rundown and get unlimited access to WBEZ.org.             <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<p> <\/bsp-email-wall>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   <\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Trump administration has officially denied an appeal from the state of Illinois for disaster relief funds for summer storms last year that affected 438,000 residents in five Illinois counties.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. JB Pritzker requested authorization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s individual assistance for affected counties, as well as disaster loan programs to help Illinoisans after a multiday storm <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/weather\/2025\/08\/19\/widespread-torrential-rainfall-leaves-several-inches-after-thunderstorms-sweep-through-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">Aug. 16-19 <\/a>that passed through Boone, Cook, Kane, McHenry and Will counties. Trump in October approved major disaster declarations for Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. But he also <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/donald-trump\/2025\/10\/24\/dick-durbin-tammy-duckworth-donald-trump-denial-illinois-disaster-assistance\" target=\"_blank\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">denied requests from Illinois<\/a>, Maryland and Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>In announcing assistance for Alaska and North Dakota, Trump posted on social media that he won Alaska \u201cBIG\u201d in 2016, 2020 and 2024. He touted the same for North Dakota. <\/p>\n<p>That led Pritzker to call the denial politically motivated \u2014 and to try to appeal the decision. In two letters sent to Trump last year, Pritzker said the intense rainfall overwhelmed Chicago\u2019s sewer system on the Southwest Side as well as in Cicero and other suburbs, hurting many \u201ceconomically vulnerable\u201d residents. Flood survivors are coping with health hazards, including mold and contamination from sewage backup, conditions that can lead to respiratory problems for children and older adults, the letters said. <\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Sun-Times in November detailed a Garfield Ridge  resident\u2019s flood damage that led her basement to fill with sewage. The single mom and her three kids experienced what tens of thousands of people across the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/news\/2025\/08\/06\/chicago-cook-county-issue-disaster-proclamation-after-july-flooding\" target=\"_blank\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">city and Cook County<\/a> endured during heavy rainfall in July and August, according to documents reviewed by the Sun-Times that included the unnamed family\u2019s story, along with examples of many others.<\/p>\n<p>Disaster money is provided by FEMA, and the state has historically received hundreds of millions of dollars after severe weather.<\/p>\n<p>But in a letter dated Saturday, FEMA reaffirmed its initial decision, writing that supplemental federal assistance was not warranted. The denial specifically applied to the state\u2019s request for individual assistance for residents in Boone, Cook, Kane, McHenry, and Will counties.<\/p>\n<p>Pritzker on Monday called the denial \u201ca politically motivated decision that punishes thousands of Illinois families in a critical moment of need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlaying politics with disaster relief funding is a new low, even for the Trump Administration,\u201d Pritzker said in a statement. \u201cIgnoring the realities of widespread damage from the August 2025 severe storms, speaks volumes about the federal government\u2019s vindictive priorities and complete disregard for American livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House has defended its decision, saying the president responds to federal aid requests \u201cwith great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement \u2014 not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Contributing: Brett Chase<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>         <a class aria-label=\"Tina Sfondeles\" href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/authors\/tina-sfondeles\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"><picture data-crop=\"headshot\"><source width=\"240\" height=\"240\"  loading=\"lazy\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tina-cropped_edited (3).jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/c72487f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1984x1984+0+0\/resize\/240x240!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F88%2Fff%2F10809b3b41bbaf62b60c27b8bb16%2Ftina-cropped-edited-3.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\">  <\/picture> <\/a>     <\/div>\n<p>                                                             <\/bsp-article-page-body>                                                                   <\/main>               <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuriria Buenrostro shows the area where carpet squares damaged from flooding at her Gage Park home had to be removed Aug. 19, 2025. Several other Gage Park residents sustained storm damage. Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times In two letters sent to President Donald Trump last year, Gov. JB Pritzker said the intense rainfall overwhelmed Chicago\u2019s sewer system on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}