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Kankakee County Board extends disaster declaration, honors tornado responders
Summary
The county extended its tornado-related disaster declaration 30 days starting May 21 and formally recognized nonprofit and agency staff for their roles in response and recovery; the SBA reminded residents of loan deadlines and available assistance.
The Kankakee County Board on May 12 voted to extend its March 10, 2026 disaster declaration for an additional 30 days beginning May 21 to maintain access to response resources and procurement flexibilities.
The extension was read into the record as a proclamation and carried on a voice vote after members discussed permitting, debris removal and recovery progress. The proclamation cites the March storm that produced an EF3 tornado, two fatalities and millions in property damage and invokes local emergency authority under 20 ILCS 3305/11 to continue coordinated recovery efforts.
Before the vote the board honored community and nonprofit partners who supported the county operations center during and after the storm. Becky Powell, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, introduced three people the EMA said “demonstrated exceptional dedication” in donation coordination and resource distribution: Mariah Vale of United Way, Nicole Smokelovich of the Community Foundation of the Kankakee River Valley, and Randy Herzburg of Uplifted Care. Powell said their roles included organizing donations, keeping partner communications flowing and staffing multi‑agency resource centers.
At the meeting Anna Nunees, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, thanked local EMA staff and urged residents to apply for federal assistance. “The deadline has not yet passed for physical damage loans for the declaration for your county, which ends on June 8th,” Nunees said, adding that economic injury disaster loans are available through Jan. 11, 2027.
Board members asked for and received a brief update on permitting and debris removal, with staff saying permits are starting to be issued and that highway crews have been assisting with debris clearance. The board’s extended declaration is intended to preserve access to supplies, contractors and funding streams while recovery work continues.
The board also passed accompanying proclamations recognizing individual public‑service milestones and thanking recovery partners; those items were approved by voice vote.
The county plans to continue recovery operations and maintain coordination among EMA, public safety and nonprofit partners while the extended declaration is in effect.
