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00:00flood incidents until there are some real structural changes and improvements to our
00:06infrastructure as a whole. Second reason is climate change. It means that Chicago's
00:13working class communities are experiencing more and more frequent hundred year storms and extreme
00:20weather. We need to build more climate resilient infrastructure, plant more trees to absorb water
00:27and modernize our infrastructure to account for this new reality. But today, we are calling for one thing in response to these flooding incidents. We need the state as well as the federal government to provide emergency relief for homeowners as well as our businesses. We will not allow this disaster to turn into a tragedy. We need state and federal dollars so that we can help residents
00:57repair their homes and ensure small businesses can fully recover. What we are asking is that residents also fill out their damage assessment surveys so that we can accurately report the extent of the damage. The more information we have, the better prepared we will be to fight for the relief of our communities.
01:20That desperately need them at this time. In addition to filling out assessment surveys, residents can and should continue to call three one one to report water in your basement and make service requests. The deadline to fill out the damage assessment is this Friday, August 22nd.
01:38Finally, Chicago. I'm asking that we all come together in this moment. It's going to take all of us to build stronger and more resilient communities. With that, we'll turn it over to our executive director of OEMC, Mr Frank Velez.
01:57Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Mayor. Good morning. I'm Frank Velez, the executive director for the Office of Emergency Management Communications. In the last month, the city of Chicago has been hit with torrential rain, which has caused major flood incidences. Our first incident was July 25th through July 28th. As you're aware, we just got second phased. We got hit August 16th through the 19th.
02:25From Saturday, August 16th to the morning of Tuesday, August 19th, there have been well over 5,612 calls that have been recorded through 311 for water in the basement. Some of the areas affected this weekend and overnight also experienced flash floods in July. There are wards like 6th Ward, 12th Ward, 13, 14, 15, 16, and the 23rd Ward. The city of Chicago and the Office of Emergency Management Communications
02:55will continue to work with our partners at Cook County Management and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to focus on the July floods and the August floods. Once again, we ask affected residents to complete the survey and self-report the damage assessments to help determine the eligibility and potential assistance for the flash floods that occurred in August and in July.
03:20The survey is a tool used to collect additional information and to determine whether the city, along with our partners at Cook County, IEMA, pursue options for assistance for our residents.
03:34Completing the survey does not guarantee eligibility for financial assistance aid or funding of any kind.
03:40The information collected will be used strictly for assessment and planning purposes as the city pursues all avenues for resources for our residents. The IEMA survey is the first step in the process.
03:54The survey is also available online through our QR code. A Spanish version is available as well. Residents can visit our Chicago.gov forward slash OMC to access the survey.
04:09The deadline, as the mayor stated for the survey is this Friday, August 22nd at midnight. We ask that all residents continue to report the services and requests related to water basements through 3-1-1 by calling 3-1-1, use the Chi 3-1-1 app or online 3-1-1.chicago.gov.
04:31I also want to remind residents about the threat of fraud. The flood and damage assessment survey and calling 3-1-1 reporting in the water basements are the only information tools that residents are being asked to provide in order to pursue possible assistance.
04:50Do not provide personal information or payment to any third party. Again, completion of the survey does not guarantee or imply eligibility or financial assistance for the funding. The information is to collect to be used strictly for assessment and planning services. Thank you and very much.
05:09Thank you, Executive Director Velez. We also have our Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure Lori Lipson is here. Commissioners Connor and Stallard are both here from Water Department, as well as recent sanitation.
05:25We also have our community engagement chief here as well, because we want to ensure that the residents of the communities have been hit the hardest, know that the full force of government will remain constant until families get full restoration.
05:42We also want to make sure that when you are filling out the survey, your documentation status is, um, is, is, is not necessary to disclose.
05:52So this is for, um, individuals who are, uh, residents or citizens and as well as undocumented individuals. Um, that information will not be disclosed. So your, uh, status will be protected as the welcoming city ordinance permits. Thank you. Casio. Okay. So we're gonna take some questions. If you have a question, can you just come forward so I can see who you are? Leah. All right. We'll start with Sean over here and then come around. Good morning, mayor. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Uh, mayor, a couple of questions for you. One of them is the
06:22very residents you talked with today said this has never happened before. It's now happened twice in a matter of weeks. What does that say? And also, could you address, uh, what Frank was talking about, which is the potential for scam artists to come in and try to take advantage of these residents? Yeah, you know, look, as I said before, um, the, the, the first thing is, you know, we are, our hearts are with all of the families that are experiencing, uh, the, uh, the damage.
06:52Uh, on the southwest side. Um, this is very reminiscent to what families experience, um, on the west side of Chicago as well in other areas that have been impacted.
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