DANVILLE — David Ruwe, the public works director with the City of Danville, is urging residents to submit damage reports from recent flooding.
Potentially, residents could qualify for “emergency relief funds,” Ruwe says from the state.
Alderman Tricia Teague asked Ruwe if the person applying has to be the homeowner.
“I have a person who doesn’t live in my ward… and I have pictures myself where her basement wall collapsed, and it’s not covered by insurance,” Teague said at Tuesday’s Danville City Council meeting. “And I know she is not the only one I’ve heard of.. tons of backups, tons of flooding, tons of basements that have problems.”
Ruwe said it doesn’t matter if it is a tenant or an owner to submit a request for funds.
“IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) is going to be in and around town,” Ruwe said. “It sounds like they’re going to be in town and trying to assess certain areas of town that we basically provided them with the list of calls we received.”
Ruwe added this is the first time he has seen it done in this manner, so he is unsure of a few details.
“I would just say if someone had damage and they are unable to fill that out online, please call public works,” Ruwe said. “We will make a list and provide that to the IEMA.”
You can make a report with the city by going to their website: https://report-it-danvilleil.hub.arcgis.com/ or by calling public works at 217-431-228.
The relief funds pertain to flooding which happened on Aug. 13-16 in Danville.
The National Weather Service in Lincoln reports there was an active “ring of fire” during those dates with led to “significant flash flooding.”
“Counties positioned along the Interstate 74 corridor received the highest 3-day rainfall totals, measuring between 3 and 6 inches, but with localized amounts between 8 to 12 inches,” the NWS reports. “Some of the highest totals fell across portions of Fulton and Tazewell counties, where the average recurrence interval over the 72-hour period suggested a 1-in-1000 year rainfall event.”
This flooding event in Danville led to Ellsworth Park being buried under water, as well as the temporary closure of some roads, including Interstate 74.