FULTON COUNTY, Ill. – While Fulton County residents are still cleaning up from tornadoes earlier this month, questions linger about whether or not they will get aid to get back on their feet.
25 News reports that locally, Fulton County only needs about $150,000 in uninsured damage to qualify for federal aid. But there also needs to be $22 million in damage statewide to qualify, a tougher barrier to overcome.
“It’s not just fair, it’s not realistic, and it’s not viable for something like this,” says Chris Helle, Director of the Fulton County ESDA. “It’s not fair to the people. That’s the most important part. These people deserve better.”
Helle says the biggest problem in the aftermath of the storm is helping people who may not have insurance. But he says the county has been connecting those people to non-profits to provide some kind of aid.
One resident who is seeking help to rebuild is life-long Fulton County resident Kevin Decker. He’s still living in his trailer that was damaged in the storms.
“Because I live in a small town, they don’t want to help because it’s not enough money. Money shouldn’t be the object of it. The object should be there’s an EF-3 tornado and people’s homes are destroyed,” Decker said.
Decker says that his trailer is uninsured because it’s too old and worn. He is concerned that more storms, such as ones predicted for Saturday, could do more damage to his trailer.
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