DES MOINES, Iowa—Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has sent a letter to President Donald Trump requesting that he grant an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for 57 counties that have been severely impacted by the recent flooding along the Missouri River and other parts of the state. The request does include Boone and Greene counties. Neither had previously been included in the Governor’s State Disaster Declarations.
In the request to the president, Gov. Reynolds also indicated the State of Iowa will need federal recovery assistance in addition to what is granted through a Presidential Disaster Declaration, for agriculture, businesses, homes, and levees. The projected impact to the State of Iowa in these areas is $1.6 billion.
The governor requested funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Individual Assistance Program for Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Ida, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Shelby, and Woodbury counties. Initial estimates gathered by local officials indicated 23,540 structures were affected or received minor damage, and 1,201 received major damage or were destroyed. Individual Assistance Program funding provides disaster-impacted homeowners and businesses with programs and services to maximize recovery, including assistance with housing, personal property replacement, medical expenses and legal services.
Gov. Reynolds also requested funding under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for the repair or replacement of public infrastructure, including roads and bridges, for Adair, Allamakee, Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dallas, Decatur, Dickinson, Emmet, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jasper, Kossuth, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Sac, Shelby, Sioux, Tama, Union, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury, and Wright counties. Local emergency management coordinators, working with local representatives and jurisdictions, estimate damage eligible for funding under the Public Assistance Program at $77.4 million.
The governor also requested funding to conduct hazard mitigation activities for the entire state.
Both Iowa Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst have expressed support for the Governor’s request.
About the Author
