Illinois residents have more time to apply for disaster assistance for damages from the severe storms and flooding of July 19 and Aug. 7.

More than a quarter-billion dollars has been approved already in disaster assistance grants, the biggest disaster in federal assistance to individuals in the history of FEMA's Region V. The region encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Because of the size of the disaster and the continuing numbers of people applying for disaster assistance, the deadline to apply has been extended to Wednesday, Nov. 17, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Nov. 17 is also the deadline to return the U.S. Small Business Administration application provided to many applicants.

"We're adding the extra month beyond our usual 60 days because this is an extraordinarily large disaster, much bigger than most people realize," said FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Gregory Eaton, the top federal official on the ground for the disaster response in Illinois.

Applications can be made online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling (800) 621-3362 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily.