After cars were toppled and buildings destroyed in the wake of a massive storm system affecting Illinois and several Midwest states, Governor Pat Quinn and others reached out to help residents of Central Illinois pick up the pieces.

The day after severe storms and several tornadoes touched down in East Peoria and Washington, Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn and his staff hit the ground running, touring and assessing the extensive damage to cities and towns in Central Illinois. In East Peoria, high winds damaged several neighborhoods and ripped apart houses beginning at the intersection of Pine Crest Drive and East Muller Road and headed North over Interstate 474. Although no injuries were reported, damage was extensive.

East Peoria’s neighbors, Sunnyland, Washington and Pekin, did not fare as well. In Washington, the EF4 twister with wind speeds topping anywhere between 170 to 190 mph, cars were crushed and houses were leveled. Tazewell County, home of Washington, Illinois, was among the thirteen counties declared disaster areas by Governor Quinn. Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis spoke by phone to CNN, commenting on the damage and destruction in Washington, Illinois. “We had some areas with some wind and some water damage,” Mayor Ardis told CNN, “but nothing like our friends across the river in Washington.”

When asked how the city of Peoria plans to assist Washington, Ardis responded: “We’ve already mobilized a good number of our police and fire first responders and they were dispatched … right after the tornado hit. We’re in the process of mobilizing people from our public works department, and we’re sending over bulldozers and dump trucks to help them move debris … and get some of the streets opened up. We’re working coordination with Washington’s emergency response people over there, and we’re getting resources—not just shelters—but also food and clothing and water . . . lined up.”

Two EF-4 tornados packing winds of 170 to 190 mph ripped through Illinois, leveling more than 400 Washington homes and leaving one person dead and hundreds injured.

The death total in the state reached 6.

Meanwhile, Governor Quinn toured Washington and some of the state’s hardest hit locations, including Diamond, Brookport and Gifford, while declaring Champaign, Grundy, LaSalle, Massac, Washington, Tazewell, Woodford, Douglas, Jasper, Pope, Wabash, Wayne and Will counties state disaster areas. The declaration opens the door for several state resources that will assist communities in relief and recovery.

State government assets, including trucks, communications equipment and tools to remove debris, will help local government officials with efforts to rebuild and offer

safety and security to local residents. To assist with these efforts, Quinn says cash and material donations to volunteer disaster response agencies will prove beneficial. Visit Ready.Illinois.gov to receive information regarding sites where volunteers are needed.

President Obama, keeping in touch with FEMA and other federal partners in disaster relief, called Quinn on his cell phone, promising: “Whatever you need,” according to The Associated Press. The call came as Quinn was touring the damaged communities.

After witnessing the devastation firsthand, Quinn acknowledged that “while the recovery will be long and hard, we will work in the coming days, weeks and months to assist these communities and help the people who live there rebuild their lives.”

According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, FEMA’s Incident Management Assistance Team, IMAT, traveled to Illinois and coordinated with state and local officials to identify the most pertinent needs of the effected communities in the initial stages of building a case for a federal disaster declaration. “The White House will continue to stay in touch with our federal partners, including FEMA, as well as the state and local
partners who are leading the response,” Carney says.

In 2012, FEMA denied Illinois disaster funding following several tornadoes that swept through Harrisburg, killing seven people. This year, Quinn urged storm victims to keep detailed accounts of property loss and damage in order to present a convincing case to FEMA.

Keeping records, according to Quinn, “is very, very important because in so doing we ultimately go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency where they do a full assessment with the records that we provide them, and our hope to get a federal disaster declaration really rides on our ability to get all the information.”