The city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois plan to appeal President Trump's decision to deny a disaster declaration that would have provided federal relief funding for homes and businesses damaged by severe flooding this summer.

Last week, the president approved disaster declarations for Alaska, Nebraska, and North Dakota – all states led by Republicans – but denied requests from Illinois, Vermont and Maryland.

On Tuesday, Chicago officials announced they were teaming up with Cook County and the state of Illinois to formally appeal the president's denial of a disaster declaration submitted by Gov. JB Pritzker.

"We're doing everything that we can, recognizing the potential issues that have arised. We're going to keep working with our partners, our nonprofit groups and businesses, to try to at least get something to help folks out," said Kaila Lariviere, manager of emergency management services at the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

The governor's request had sought federal assistance to recover from severe flooding across the state in July and August.

As part of the appeal process, in-person damage assessments will be conducted between Nov. 4 and Nov. 7 to gather additional information on flood damage.

"We're going to be on the ground, knocking on doors in neighborhoods that we haven't been to previously for the purpose of trying to get in-person porch surveys, and find out if people have new damage, and if they're still struggling with something from the previous storms," said Illinois Emergency Management Agency recovery division chief Greg Nimmo. 

Homeowners and businesses can submit additional information online starting Wednesday at https://iemaohs.illinois.gov/recovery. Anyone who didn't previously submit information about flood damage also can fill out the survey. The deadline is Nov. 7.

The flooding in July and August caused power outages and disruptions to transportation and other essential services.