DES PLAINES (AP) - Gov. Rod Blagojevich has declared seven Illinois counties state disaster areas.
The governor visited an American Red Cross shelter for flood victims in Des Plaines on Monday before taking an aerial tour of the flooded areas.
The counties covered by the declaration are Cook, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle and Will. Residents in those counties are working to recover from flooding caused by record-setting rains over the weekend.
The governor's office says the state disaster declaration means more state assets and personnel will be available to flooded communities. So far, the state has provided 130,000 sandbags, along with several water pumps and boats to help with evacuations.
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Sen. Dick Durbin toured the flooding around Des Plaines:
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Brookfield Zoo because of flooding:
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The Farnsworth House, Mies van der Rohe's modernist marvel on the Fox River, was flooded by the overflowing river and will likely be closed for the rest of the year.
"It's very definitely our worst nightmare, but it could have been a lot worse without a doubt," Justin Lyons, director of marketing and development for Landmarks Illinois, told the Tribune's Blair Kamin.
For more information and photos of the damage, go to the Farnsworth House web site.