Monroe County and 13 other counties were included in an expanded disaster proclamation due to severe weather in Illinois that occurred June 29 through July 2, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Monday.

“My administration stands with communities across the state in the work to recover from recent severe weather,” Pritzker said. “To continue to support those impacted, I have signed a broader disaster proclamation to mobilize every available resource, accelerating the recovery process and providing relief for our residents.”

Last Monday, both Monroe County Public Safety Director Kevin Scheibe and Columbia Mayor Bob Hill both expressed hopes Pritzker would amend his original proclamation to include Monroe County in order for funds to become available for Columbia and surrounding areas, which sustained significant storm-related damage June 30.

Both the Monroe County Board of Commissioners and Columbia City Council passed disaster proclamations last Monday in order to officially begin the process to bring disaster funds to the area in the event the state expanded its original proclamation.

With Monroe County now included as a state-recognized disaster area, businesses, residents and government agencies affected by the storm may receive state funds to help pay for cleanup efforts, damaged property or loss of business revenue.

“County emergency management agencies continue to share damage assessments with our recovery division from each of the affected communities,” said Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “These damage reports allow us to verify and validate information which shows an increase in communities who were impacted by the severe weather on June 29 through July 2.”

Based on reports received by the IIEMA-OHS, local resources and capabilities in the communities hit by these storms have been exhausted, and state resources are needed to recover from the effects of these severe storms.

This disaster proclamation specifically covers Coles, Cook, Edgar, Hancock, McDonough, Morgan, Sangamon, and Washington counties and now includes Calhoun, Christian, Clark, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Logan, Macon, Monroe, Moultrie, Pike, Scott, and Vermillion counties.

This disaster proclamation goes into effect immediately.