Todd Stroger Declares Cook County a Disaster Area After Flooding

Chicago - Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has declared Cook County a disaster area after seeing the flood damage done to the western suburbs after last Friday's record-breaking rain fall.

Residents in a dozen communities in western Cook County were dealing with muddy, moldy basements. Tuesday morning, Stroger urged the federal government to send help.

The mayor of Westchester called the damage in his village ungodly, saying the whole town had become riverfront property. Eleven boats were put on flooded streets to rescue people trapped in their homes, and dozens of garbage trucks were deployed to help residents get flood damaged debris out of their homes and off the streets.

Friday, more than 7 inches of rain fell in a few hours, knocking out power and filling reservoirs. The mayor said his town was decimated.

The Cook County declaration, along with a state disaster declaration, will put the request for help on a fast-track, officials hope. They want FEMA to send people to assess the situation and provide funding.

Local officials say flood victims should take lots of pictures of damage, so they can recover their losses down the road.

In Chicago, flooded residents should fill out these online forms from the Office of Emergency Management , which will help the city make its case to the federal government.

Westchester residents will meet Tuesday at the village middle school to demand some immediate relief from the flood damage.

Village President Sam Pulia, Congressman Danny Davis and Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica are asking Governor Quinn to cut through the red tape. They say they need to get federal disaster relief to the victims of the weekend flood.

They said insurance money and community budgets are low, putting homeowners in a bind, many of whom don't have flood insurance.

In order to qualify for federal disaster funding, the village needs to hit a $17 million damage cap, so village officials were asking all residents to get forms to track their damage totals.