Six southeastern Illinois counties are likely to receive state aid within the week, relieving each county of some of the burden caused by recent flooding.

Governor Rod Blagojevich declared Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper and Lawrence counties state disaster areas on Tuesday after levees on the Embarras and the Wabash rivers failed.

The state disaster declaration makes available personnel and assets that can be mobilized to help local government officials with disaster recovery and helps communities gain access to trucks, heavy equipment and work crews to speed debris removal.

State assistance organizers are preparing for possible additional flooding along the Mississippi and other rivers.

“At this point, it’s difficult to determine the extent of the damage because everything is still covered by water,” spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Patti Thompson said.

IEMA regional directors are on site to coordinate local requests for state assistance, including requests for aid from conservation police officers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. According to Thompson, the state agency has long been in contact with local Emergency Management Agencies.

“In many respects the counties could handle the problems on their own,” Thompson said. “The IEMA was able to help with welfare checks, provide boats and conduct flyovers.”

Many southeastern counties were not only affected by flooding but also are recovering from tornado damage. Counties such as Coles County will receive state assistance Monday to help clean up debris from tornado damage. According to Tom Watson, Emergency Management Agency Coordinator in Coles County, the county does not require much assistance from the state for flooding damages at this time.

“We will probably ask for a reimbursement on damage done to government buildings from the flooding,” Watson said.

Other counties have been affected by tornado and flood disasters but were not under the state’s disaster declaration. Adams County declared a county-level disaster and plans to use local residents to help with disaster relief with some requests put in to the state.

Common requests from counties include using inmates from the Illinois Department of Corrections to help fill sandbags, barricades from IDOT to help with traffic control and trucks to assist with moving sand and pumps from IDOT. Filling sandbags will be the main activity over the next few days for counties such as Adams.

“We are mostly asking the public’s help to fill sandbags from 9 a.m. to midnight or to whenever the help runs out,” John Simon, Director of Emergency Management for Adams County said. “The Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program will also be assisting in filling sandbags.”