Officials from local, state and federal governments re-surveyed property damaged in 15 southern Illinois counties from early-March flooding to determine if they qualify for federal assistance last week.

96 more homes were found to have been affected by the floods. Of those homes, 25 were completely destroyed and 14 had suffered major damage. That brought the total number of households that were destroyed or had major damage to 228 homes. The total number of households affected by the floods is at 659 homes.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich had first submitted for federal grants and low-interest loans on April 8, but the federal government decided that the expenses were not within the means of state and local spending and denied the request. The hope of last week’s survey was to examine more damaged property that could not be assessed in March when the water level was still too high in some areas.

The estimated total expenses to local and state governments is $12 million, spent in emergency response to the flooding and for damage to public property. Private property damaged in the business district of Harrisburg was estimated to cost between 17 and 18 million dollars.

“Right now that request is just pending, one for individuals and one for the local governments,” said Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson.