President Donald Trump’s FEMA denies Illinois’ request for major disaster declaration after August storms: Gov. JB Pritzker

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Trump administration’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied the state of Illinois’ request for a major disaster declaration after August storms, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said Thursday.

In a letter dated Wednesday, the FEMA administrator said assistance was “not warranted.”

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The storms left a trail of destruction through Chicago’s south suburbs and several central Illinois counties.

The governor’s request covered Champaign, Cook, Ford, Fulton, McLean, Tazewell, Vermilion and Will counties. It came after the state completed a preliminary damage assessment and determined the areas should meet the threshold for federal assistance and the damage is beyond the state’s ability to handle by itself.

The federal government also denied Illinois’ most recent requests for FEMA assistance in 2025 after parts of Chicago and the suburbs were hit hard by storms and flooding. The agency determined that both of these events did not qualify for federal aid.

Illinois leads the nation in tornadoes, with over 200 confirmed so far this year.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to raise the threshold for events to qualify for FEMA disaster assistance. A review council recommended earlier this year that the agency raise the threshold for events to qualify as a federal disaster by 50%, which would’ve saved the federal government $1.5 billion in disaster relief between 2012 and 2025, according to NPR.

Indiana has already received the same declaration for damage from those same storms.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.