Pantagraph - 6/8/2010

DWIGHT -- Low-interest loans provided by the state are now available for people in communities hit by Saturday's tornadoes, the state treasurer's office announced Tuesday.

Meanwhile, cleanup continued in Dwight, where officials said more than 100 homes were damaged, not counting the devastated mobile home park. Dwight was among a handful of Illinois communities ranging from Elmwood to St. Anne and south to Logan County affected by more than a dozen tornado touchdowns.

For people who have insurance to cover damages, one-year bridge loans with interest-only payments are being offered. The loan is designed to be an immediate source of money to be paid off when the insurance checks come.

Others may qualify for loans that would be paid off in up to five years at a below-market interest rate of 4.5 percent.

Residents, businesses and farmers may qualify under either loan program.

On Tuesday, Robin Kelly, chief of staff for the state treasurer's office, visited a few areas hit by the 15 tornadoes Saturday night. She spoke with a few residents in Dwight at Alexander Lumber Co., a business that sustained heavy damage.

"We want people to start building as quickly as possible, plus we don't want people to resort to credit cards that could have much higher interest rates," she said. "We know that this is a useful, productive program and we hope you all can use it."

For information on the loans, please call (866) 523-0641 or visit www.treasurer.il.gov.

A preliminary assessment Tuesday showed 114 buildings were damaged in Dwight, and that does not include the 35-unit Dwight Mobile Home Park, which was virtually destroyed, said Village Administrator Kevin McNamara. He said that about six of the 114 homes need extensive repairs or are considered total losses.

A dollar amount of the damage was unavailable.

As of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, the entire village of 4,300 residents had electricity, McNamara said.

Cleanup work continued despite the rain Tuesday in preparation for curbside collection of debris by Tuesday night.

State workers continued to help locals Tuesday, and coordinating people who want to help with those who need help continued to be a major task for officials, McNamara said.

"There is help available, but really for 114 homes we're not getting a lot of people requesting anything," said McNamara. "We have all of these people who want to volunteer their services, and right now we are trying to match them up with people who need something."

American Red Cross of the Heartland spokesman Scott Vogel said Red Cross workers have been canvassing the village to asses the victims' needed. He said workers will be handling individual cases in the near future.