New FEMA office in Chicago isn’t suspicious. It’s part of the agency’s response to summer floods
In this image taken from video provided by ABC7 Chicago, several vehicles are stranded in the flooded viaduct at Fifth and Cicero avenues, in Chicago, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, reported on social media posts falsely claiming the Federal Emergency Management Agency has opened a disaster response center in Chicago even though the city is not dealing with a major emergency at the moment. (ABC7 Chicago via AP)
CLAIM: A video shows a disaster response center that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has suspiciously opened in Chicago, even though the city isn’t dealing with an emergency at the moment.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. FEMA has opened a number of disaster response offices in the city as part of its ongoing efforts to address flood damage in the Chicago-area following torrential rains that struck the region from June 29 to July 2. President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration last month, allowing affected residents to access federal funding and other government assistance.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a video showing the outside of an office that FEMA recently opened in Chicago to suggest the agency knows something bad is about to happen but isn’t warning residents.
The brief video, which appears to have been shot on a phone, shows a small, nondescript storefront sandwiched between a nail salon and a sportswear store.
The office’s shades are down but a simple white sign with black lettering hangs in the window reading: “FEMA - State Disaster Recovery Center.” There’s also a blue flag bearing the agency’s familiar emblem posted in a nearby parking lot.
“There is no reason why FEMA should be here,” a man recording the video says in an expletive-laden rant off camera as he pans around the shopping mall and parking lot. “Chicago has never had a weather disaster. So why is FEMA here? This is a mall.”
Social media users sharing the video repeat the man’s conspiratorial tone, with many attempting to link the Chicago office to baseless claims about the role FEMA, directed-energy weapons and blue-colored objects played in the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui last month.
“What Do They Know? What are they preparing for?!! What are they ABOUT TO DO HERE?!!” one Facebook user wrote in a lengthy post sharing the clip. “Should we be expecting a CHICAGO MAUI WILDFIRE? Should we paint our rooftops & vehicles BLUE?!? Are there DEWS HEADED OUR WAY?!?”
But there is a very real disaster FEMA is responding to in Chicago, even if it may have been lost in the headlines amid a summer of dramatic weather across the U.S.
Heavy rains inundated the city from June 29 to July 2 after a storm system stalled over the northeastern corner of Illinois. Instead of quickly moving out over Lake Michigan, the weather system dumped as much as 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain in parts of Chicago, leaving basements flooded, waterways overflowing and roads impassable.
The Chicago River rose 6 feet (2 meters), forcing workers to close a series of locks and reverse the river’s flow from west to east into Lake Michigan to prevent more flooding. City officials even asked residents to refrain from taking showers and washing dishes to prevent even more run-off from filling the sewers after nearly 5 billion gallons of water flowed into the system.
Biden issued a disaster declaration on Aug. 15, authorizing FEMA to offer grant funds to affected residents. To date, the agency has provided more than $109 million in aid, according to FEMA Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards.
The agency has also opened six Disaster Recovery Centers in the Chicago-area. The widely shared video shows the center at the Washington Square Mall on the city’s West Side that opened along with others on Aug. 29, according to a press release at the time.
Edwards said Tuesday that specialists from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration are on hand at the centers to help residents “apply for federal disaster assistance, upload documents, learn about ways to make their property more disaster resistant and get their questions answered in person.”
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.