In order for Kankakee County to qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the damage from the March 10 tornado, there would have to be $24 million in uninsured damage.

It might be a big number, but assessment teams will be out in the coming days to determine the exact amount.

The County Board met Tuesday in a special meeting to extend its proclamation of the Kankakee County Disaster Emergency. It passed unanimously and is part of the overall damage assessment process.

“The damage assessment is going to be run locally,” said Chad Gessner, Kankakee County Undersheriff. “It’ll be through our EMA, with the assistance of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and FEMA. So the initial damage assessment was done by the county, and we report that to the state. The state now has notified the feds to come in, so they will be in here next week, going door to door.”

Gessner said the local threshold for damage is $500,000, and that’s likely been met. Whether there was the $24 million in uninsured damage to kick in the FEMA assistance still will have to be determined.

“It’s a large number of $24 million so that’s why FEMA is going to come down and start really tackling the area to see all the damage throughout the county,” he said. “Which you remember the tornado started out west. It started coming through Herscher, all the way through the county, all the way out to the state line.”

Gessner said it will be a long process of calculating the numbers, and the County already has about 18 volunteers helping right now to assess the damage.

“Hopefully, we’ll get those numbers, because obviously, if we can reach that threshold, we’ll be able to get some assistance to our citizens,” he said. “But meantime, I can tell you that it’s hats off to this entire community for coming together and getting the resources gathered and getting them out to the people that have been most affected.”

Gessner noted that County Board Chairman Matt Alexander-Hildebrand and the Board have gone above and beyond to make sure the resources are out there to help with the cleanup and do the assessment.

“When an incident like this happens, obviously public safety and the citizens of Kankakee County come first,” Alexander-Hildebrand said. ”So that’s what we’ll focus on. We’ll have to deal with all that other stuff at some point.”

Alexander-Hildebrand declared the Disaster Emergency on March 10 immediately after the tornado tore through south Kankakee and Aroma Park. Tuesday’s proclamation extended it for 30 days. The disaster declaration is necessary to adhere to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act and the Kankakee County Management Agency ordinance. All departments are directed to cooperate with the EMA and provide the services and resources necessary.

Alexander-Hildebrand said it’s an important process as well as necessary.

“Because then we’re able to continue to get resources and have IEMA in town, so whether that’s state resources, local resources, everyone coming together,” he said. “That’s the most important part. It’s a 30-day extension. Obviously, we’re still in the recovery phase. … I was amazed at how everyone, for as much as they could, had [the debris] ready for us to pick up.”

Gessner said the assessment personnel will be going out in teams with local, state and federal representatives included. All will have the proper identification on them. It’s an all-out effort to see if the county meets the $24 million threshold.

“It’s just to try to get the total amount of damage and categorize it so we can see what assistance can be provided for families,” he said.

Gessner added some businesses might qualify for SBA loans, or small business loans, at very low interest.

“They can take those out to improve their properties and or all the way up to federal assistance, to where [residents] receive money from the state and feds,” he said.