Workers displaced by floods may find work in cleanup, recovery

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Some workers dislocated from their jobs by the flooding in Southern Illinois may get temporary employment assisting in cleanup and recovery through a grant received by the state.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity received a $2 million National Emergency Grant from the federal Department of Labor to assist in cleanup efforts in the 21 Southern Illinois counties affected by storms and flooding in April and May.

About 115 temporary jobs will be created for eligible dislocated workers, according to a news release from Rep. Jerry Costello.

People interested in applying for the jobs in Gallatin or Saline counties may contact Mid-5 at 252-6020 to be placed on the list. The state and local agencies are still in the early stages of picking work sites, so there may not be work sites in every county in the flood region, Kim Jacobs of the Southern 14 Workforce and Investment Board said. However, people interested in working through the program should still get on the list in case there is a cleanup or recovery project in their area.