Governor Pat Quinn announced yesterday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin damage assessments on Thursday in the Illinois counties devastated by Sunday’s tornadoes and severe storms.  The assessments were requested by the Governor and will provide the documentation necessary to support a request for federal assistance.  Five teams comprising personnel from FEMA, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and local emergency management agencies will begin assessing damage to homes and businesses in Champaign, Grundy, Massac, Pope, Tazewell and Will counties on Thursday.  The teams will continue until they have assessed damage in these counties plus the others that Governor Quinn declared state disaster areas including Douglas, Jasper, LaSalle, Pope, Wabash, Washington, Wayne and Woodford.  Assessment teams from IEMA and FEMA will begin meeting with local government officials in early December to collect information about disaster-related expenses they incurred.  That information could be used to support a state request for federal assistance to reimburse units of government for 75 percent of their eligible expenses.  State assistance provided to tornado-impacted communities to date includes.  In addition, IDOT and the Illinois Department of Corrections are coordinating with local officials to provide assistance with clean up of debris in tornado-impacted communities.