Pritzker Tours Tornado Ravaged Kankakee County
Governor JB Pritzker and local officials tour Aroma Park in Kankakee County Thursday, which was damaged by a significant tornado Tuesday. (Photo: Governor’s office)
Governor JB Pritzker said Thursday nearly 500 “structures” had been damaged by massive storms and an EF-3 tornado that struck Kankakee County Tuesday evening.
Pritzker spoke to the media after touring damage in Aroma Park, located along the Kankakee River just to the southwest of Kankakee.
Pritzker said a damage estimate wasn’t available, but said an assessment would have to be made before seeking disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“We expect that they would and should,” Pritzker said. “This looks like a circumstance where federal resources will be triggered and should come to this community.”
FEMA, of course, is run by President Donald Trump, who Pritzker has been engaged in a long-running war of words with. Pritzker said he doesn’t believe politics will influence any of the administration’s decisions related to storm damage in Kankakee County.
“Politics shouldn’t play any role in addressing emergencies and crises that exist all across the country or in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “I have some confidence here because I think it’s pretty obvious that the damage here is devastating. You can see that this community needs help.”
A couple of hours after Pritzker’s visit Thursday, local authorities found the body of a person in a storm-damaged home who appeared to have died as a result of the tornado. It was the first death in Illinois associated with the storm.
Many local officials have commented in recent days they were surprised the death and injury numbers weren’t significantly higher.
“God was looking out for people here,” Pritzker said.
