EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — East St. Louis residents and flood victims filled almost every seat at Wednesday's town hall.
They didn't hold back from demanding answers on how to get help almost a month after the flood.
"I'm here at the meeting, I'm trying to see if they're going to help us or what," East St. Louis flood victim Cynthia Wrencher said.
Every day since the flood hit East St. Louis, Cynthia Wrencher has been trying to recover everything she lost.
"I did all the calling. I stood in all the lines and this is where I'm at today," Wrencher said.
She and dozens of other East St. Louis flood victims showed up demanding answers from city leaders.
"Why are we paying sewer bills and sewer treatment, and we're still getting blocked up, blockage, and it goes up in our yard? Bacteria," Marcus Harris-Pride said.
"How is it that $22 million can go to one city impacted by the same flood, but say you have no funds available for the City of East St. Louis?" Empire 13 Director JD Dixon said.
Bryan Whitaker with St. Clair County's Emergency Management Agency says they're waiting for FEMA to approve or deny the state's request for a federal disaster declaration following FEMA's recent door-to-door assessments.
"Once we have that answer, we will be coming back to the citizens throughout St. Clair County and letting them know what the next steps of the process are. It could be something along the lines of receiving individual assistance," Whitaker said.
The public works department addressed the pump infrastructure, saying it's outdated and would cost nearly $1 million to fix just one out of the 19 in the city.
"There's no amount of money that can pour in to take care of that. It's hundreds of millions of dollars. The cost of one pump down at that pump station is quite significant," an East St. Louis public works engineer said.
The engineer said it's going to take time to come up with a cost-effective plan to improve their pump system.
"I'm tired of hearing what we gonna do, what's in the making," Harris-Pride said.
City leaders assured residents that they're doing everything they can to get aid, and while the FEMA process is still pending, they urge flood victims to continue reporting their damage by calling 211.
East St. Louis Finance Director Dawayne Stewart estimated that the flood cleanup and rescues cost the city roughly $135,000 so far.