Watseka Mayor John Allhands reports the city’s expenses from the record-flooding will be more than a $1/2 million dollars. And the $500,000 cost is likely a figure the city will have to deal with --- any reimbursement is not expected.

The Watseka Planning Commission met (Thursday), learning about the options and possible help that could happen.

Mayor Allhands says the replacement of pumps at the Mulberry Street lift-station is a major issue. He said previous floods have taken their toll on the equipment.
A lot depends on what happens with the effort to get a disaster declaration .......

In addition to the 200 plus homes damaged from flooding, public buildings and infrastructure is a huge cost. There’s also the cost of man-power for clean-up.

ederal dollars depend on Iroquois County meeting a $109,000 threshold for public property damage. And the state’s threshold for FEMA help is $18-million – but this 2018 flood did not have the same state-wide impact of the record floods from years past.

Grant monies from the Illinois Dept of Natural Resources (DNR) is something city officials are hoping could develop for substantially-damaged homes.

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