Cook County commits $8 million to clear debris from August storms

Cook County intends to spend $8 million to help 12 municipalities clear massive amounts of debris left by the Aug. 11 storms, county officials announced in a news release Tuesday.

The focus is on the south suburbs.

“Our smaller and under-resourced communities often lack the capacity to respond to disasters of this scale, and they deserve a partner they can count on,” County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement.

Officials estimated the county has removed 100,000 cubic yards of debris, enough to fill 5,700 average-sized dump trucks. Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards remain on the ground in many areas, they said.

South suburban municipalities have joined forces to collect and consolidate the debris at 13 sites. Crews will haul it to three regional sites in Chicago Heights, Flossmoor and Matteson for removal and processing. The county’s Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security asked the Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network, a volunteer-run group, for help, and the network secured 40 trucks. Officials expect collection from the current sites to take two weeks.

Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin in a statement said the money gives her village room to finish the job.

“Cook County’s investment is giving us the additional capacity to finish this work and get our community closer to normal,” she said.

Severe storms this summer brought damaging winds, tornadoes, flooding and downed trees and power lines to a swath of municipalities. The county issued a disaster declaration after the Aug. 11 storm.

The funding builds on the county’s response to storms in 2025. The federal government denied the county’s request for disaster assistance that year, and the county created a $15 million one-time relief program for residents still recovering.