Ottawa Illinois Elementary School District Should Obtain Required Flood Insurance or FEMA Should Disallow $14 Million in Public Assistance Grant Funds

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency {lEMA), a FEMA grantee, awarded Ottawa $16.3 million for damages resulting from severe storms and flooding that occurred September 13 through October 5, 2008. The award provided 75 percent funding for four large and four small projects.The audit covered the period September 13, 2008, through May 16, 2012, the cutoff date of our audit, and included a review of three large projects and one small project totaling $16.2 million, or 99 percent of the total award. As of our cutoff date, none of the Iarge projects were closed.