Mayor Brandon Johnson is adding $5 million to the city’s existing flood repair program for West Side residents affected by last July’s record-level torrential rains.
“People were displaced. They lost furniture, furnaces, cars and memories,” Johnson said during the announcement for the funds Tuesday at a West Side library.
“While the city could never replace the precious items that were lost, we went right to work to partner with Cook County and the state of Illinois to provide relief to our residents as well as to mitigate the impact of this disaster,” he added.
The funds will benefit up to 200 homeowners, primarily seniors, living in single-family or one- to two-unit homes on the West Side. Each recipient can get up to $25,000 in assistance. Only households with a total income at or below the area median income can qualify.
The city’s Flood Assistance Repair Program provides funds for homeowners whose basements were damaged by severe flooding on the West Side in July 2023 after storms dumped 9 inches of rain on the area. Citywide, more than 12,000 reports of flooded basements were filed with 311 in the first two weeks after the storm, according to a WBEZ analysis.
The $5 million will be used along with the $172 million in FEMA funding that’s already been allocated. Johnson announced the funding in Austin on Tuesday afternoon at the West Chicago Avenue Public Library, 4856 W. Chicago Ave.
In lieu of an application process, the city’s Department of Housing will work directly with community leaders and organizations to identify the homeowners in need.
Alderpersons on the West Side and organizations like the Westside Health Authority have already been working with impacted residents to distribute the FEMA money, said Lissette Castañeda, the commissioner of the housing department.
“We are deeply plugged into the boots-on-the-ground folks that have been doing the work and that have been connecting with the people that needed the most,” Castañeda said during Monday’s announcement.
“We also understand that people have already provided information to FEMA and to other places. So we are working with that information, which lets us streamline this process,” she added.
Following this week’s severe storms, 50 to 60 people have called the city reporting their basements are flooded, said Randy Conner, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management.