Will Rockford be declared a disaster area? Help for homeowners on the line

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — With nearly 689 homes still without power after last weekend’s storms, residents are still grappling with the cleanup after torrential rains, floods, and high winds battered Winnebago County.

But yet, neither the City of Rockford nor the State of Illinois have declared an emergency, which would free up funding to help homeowners with repairs.

“We’ve got to have IEMA (the Illinois Emergency Management Agency) step in and help out these residents here,” said 2nd Ward Alderman Jonathan Logemann. “It’s awful. It’s devastating.”

Logemann attended a meeting organized by residents at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 13th Street on Friday afternoon. His ward includes the area near Keith Creek, where significant flooding occurred.

Five damage assessment teams are still going door to door, and neither governing body can declare an emergency until the assessments are completed.

In a statement Thursday, the City of Rockford explained, “At the local level, a Disaster Declaration simply means our local government is able to spend money for the municipality’s emergency expenses outside of our regular policies and procedures. It does not provide any additional funding or resources for residents, private properties or businesses.

“If the state declares a Disaster in our area, then local government would be able to access more resources for the municipality at the state level. In addition, assistance for individuals and households could be made available, but it is not guaranteed, and it is determined at the state level,” the statement continued.

City staff and the Rockford Fire Department were on hand to direct residents to resources for aid.

‘We’re really trying to reach out to the homeowners and really hope that we can get the federal assistance to really help rectify some of these issues,” said property inspector Brandon Kruse.

Storm Water Coordinator Samantha Flynn said the damages they’ve documented are some of the worst she’d ever seen.

“For the most part, what we’re seeing right now, everyone from Keith Creek, up about five blocks south and then two blocks to the north, a lot of them have received basements filled with water to the top,” Flynn said. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

Josh and Brittany Strackney’s basement filled with water, and found themselves homeless after their house was condemned.

“We don’t have a house to live in and we can’t afford hotels. There’s no help right now for anyone,” Brittany said.

Brittany has a medical condition that requires electrical power, but the electric supply has been off since the weekend.

“And I have to have a certain living environment with just the AC, needing power for units that I physically need to have every day,” she said.

Residents at Friday’s meeting complained of dire living conditions in the storm’s aftermath, with foul smells and unsafe air inside their homes.

Neighbors said they lost personal belongings, water heaters, furnaces, washers and dryers, and had structural damage.

“We’ve had a few houses where its foundations have collapsed because of the pressure of the water,” Kruse said.

Residents at the meeting said they had lost refrigerators, beds, and even their cars due to water damage.

One woman said she lost all the keepsakes from her own wedding day, and mementos from her parent’s wedding.

While they were in their house as it filled with water, the Strackneys said they saw other residents who were caught in the floodwater.

“One of the most determined I saw was a guy whose van literally got washed into the intersection. He was sitting on top of it for like a half an hour before he decided, I’m just going to walk out before it gets worse,” Josh said.

Others weren’t so lucky , like 76-year-old Dean Gulbranson, who was trapped inside a pickup truck that was swept into Keith Creek at the Schnucks parking lot on Charles Street on Sunday. He drowned.

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