Governor Rauner Adds Cook County to State Disaster Proclamation for Flooding

State Emerge​ncy Operations Center Continues to Support Communities Battling Flood Waters

ALGONQUIN – Governor Bruce Rauner today added Cook County to the state disaster proclamation for widespread flooding. Governor Rauner announced this action while touring flood fighting efforts and impacted residential areas in Algonquin with community, state and federal elected officials.

On Friday, Governor Rauner issued a disaster proclamation for Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

"With flood waters impacting communities in Cook County, I’m adding the county to the state disaster proclamation to ensure we provide responders the resources they need to continue protecting public health and safety," Governor Rauner said.

A state disaster proclamation makes a wide variety of state resources available that can help communities respond and recover from flooding.  Such resources include sandbags, sand, pumps, trucks and other heavy equipment, and other assistance to ensure public safety.

The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Springfield was activated Friday to coordinate requests for state resources to support communities battling flood waters. The SEOC will remain open until the threat has passed.

To date, the state has provided 350,000 sandbags to Lake County and 100,000 sandbags to McHenry County. On Monday, 50,000 sandbags will be delivered to Kane County. In addition, the state is staging 350,000 sandbags in northern Illinois for quick deployment to communities.

Agencies staffing the SEOC include the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Department of Public Health, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois State Police, the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For updates on the current situation, visit the Ready Illinois website at http://www.ready.illinois.gov​.