Ryan Requests Federal Snow Emergency Declaration

SPRINGFIELD - Governor George H. Ryan today requested a Federal Snow Emergency declaration from the President.

Ryan's request follows yesterday's statewide disaster declaration which enabled the governor to request federal assistance and authorized the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to conduct a county-by-county assessment of December's severe winter storms.

IEMA has determined that 23 counties might qualify for federal assistance.

The counties included in the request are: Bureau, Clark, Cook, DeWitt, DuPage, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Henry, Iroquois, Jasper, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, St. Clair, Stark, Will, and Winnebago counties. IEMA is continuing to review additional data as it is received from the National Weather Service. More counties may be added to the request for federal assistance at a later date.

"In many areas of the state, more snow was received in December than in a typical winter," Governor George Ryan said. "Federal assistance will help to offset snow removal expenditures in the most heavily impacted counties."

Counties could qualify based on a record or near-record snowfall for a one- two-, or three-day event, or be contiguous to and have received an amount at least equal to a qualifying county. In any county approved by the federal government, federal assistance will provide up to 75 percent reimbursement to units of local government for eligible snow removal costs for a 48-hour period.