DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a letter Wednesday to be delivered to President Donald Trump requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for 30 Iowa counties where significant damage was sustained from severe storms and flooding from June 6-July 2, 2018.
The governor requested funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program for Adair, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Clay, Dallas, Delaware, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Hamilton, Hancock, Howard, Humboldt, Kossuth, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Sioux, Story, Warren, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek and Wright counties. Public Assistance Program funding is used to rebuild damaged infrastructure that may include roads, bridges, culverts and other public facilities, or to cover costs of emergency work during, and debris removal after, severe weather. Following a joint federal, state, and local preliminary damage assessment of the 30 counties, it was estimated the severe weather caused more than $16 million worth of damage that could be eligible under the Public Assistance program.
Gov. Reynolds also requested funding under FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program for Buchanan, Dickinson, Polk and Winnebago counties. Individual Assistance Program funding provides disaster survivors with programs and services to maximize recovery, including assistance with housing, personal property replacement, medical expenses and legal services. The governor also requested the Small Business Administration make low-interest loans available and for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide appropriate assistance in these four counties.
In addition, Gov. Reynolds requested funding to conduct hazard mitigation activities for the entire state. The 28 page letter can be read in its entirety here.
