ALTON – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with Alton Mayor Brant Walker and Hardin Mayor Dave Hurley to discuss recent extreme flooding that’s caused extensive damage and economic losses in the area, as well as recovery efforts across the region. Photos from today’s meeting are available here.
“As Americans, it’s our responsibility to support one another in times of need, especially when our communities are devastated by disasters and severe weather,” said Duckworth. “Flooding across Illinois has devastated so many families, and I will keep working with local leaders like Mayor Walker and Mayor Hurley to do all I can to help provide federal support to repair these affected communities.”
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Earlier this month, Duckworth met with Southern Illinois leaders from Alexander, Union, Randolph and Jackson counties to discuss the flooding impact in the region, as well as, along with the Illinois Congressional Delegation, wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support Governor JB Pritzker’s request for a disaster declaration for eligible counties in Illinois impacted by significant damage done to crops by the ongoing flooding. Last month, Duckworth and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster declaration process to make it more transparent and equitable to small and rural communities in larger states like Illinois.
Duckworth also asked for a study on how the federal government is managing flood risk management infrastructure in the Midwest and how the resilience of levees can be increased, and introduced legislation to help cities develop better methods for mapping, understanding and mitigating urban flooding.
