Bigstock tornado damage
As a result of the violent storms that ripped across several areas of Illinois Tuesday night, the Illinois REALTORS® Relief Foundation (IRRF) has sprung into action.
The IRRF is accepting applications to assist victims whose property was damaged by tornadoes, high winds, heavy rain and hail. The foundation, which is one of the charitable arms of Illinois REALTORS®, provides assistance to disaster victims. The latest outreach is for those who were affected by the storms which swept through the south suburban Chicago area, north-central Illinois and southern Illinois.
Thursday the National Weather Service confirmed six tornadoes in northern Illinois, including EF-3 tornadoes that hit Ottawa and the nearby village of Naplate as well as Washburn, northeast of Peoria. Two Ottawa men died as a result of injuries when a tree fell during the storm. Another man in the southern Illinois town of Crossville (White County), near the Indiana state line, died during a storm, too.
Damage was heavy in Naplate and on the south side of Ottawa, with a report of one fourth of Naplate’s 200 homes damaged. Gov. Bruce Rauner visited the area Wednesday morning. In the entire county, nearly 10,000 customers were at one time without power and residents of a nursing home had to be evacuated for safety reasons.
Who is eligible for IRRF assistance?
Anyone who is a full-time Illinois resident, a U.S. citizen and who meets the criteria of the program is eligible to obtain funds.
- Relief assistance is limited to $500 per application.
- Assistance can be used for the applicant’s daily needs and employment.
- Assistance is need-based and other forms of assistance may be taken into consideration when awarding grants.
- All grants made through IRRF are based on availability of funds and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you know someone who was affected, or want to apply for aid, the form is here.
