Governor announces disaster recovery housing programs

Gov. Kim Reynolds held a news conference about flooding and tornado recovery efforts with members of her cabinet at the Iowa State Capitol on July 11, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The state will launch multiple programs to assist communities devastated by severe weather in the past three months, including efforts to temporarily house people and construct new permanent properties, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Thursday.

Reynolds held a news conference Thursday, flanked by state agency and department heads involved in providing emergency and recovery services for areas across Iowa affected by three severe weather systems. The towns of Greenfield and Minden were hit by tornadoes in April and May, and several communities in northwest and north-central Iowa faced severe flooding during June.

The governor said two-thirds of Iowa’s 99 counties have been impacted by the recent natural disasters. As she thanked state, local and federal government workers for their efforts to assist people in the immediate aftermath of the storms, Reynolds also said there is a long road ahead for the Iowans who lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods due to the tornadoes and flooding.

“It will be a long-term recovery, and it’s going to require many resources to help families rebuild, businesses reopen and communities to come back stronger than ever before,” Reynolds said. “And I’m here to tell you also that we’re going to be here for the long haul.”

More than 5,000 homes have been impacted by the recent severe weather, Reynolds said, and more than 2,000 homes are currently estimated to be destroyed. These numbers are expected to grow, she said.

The people whose homes are no longer habitable have found shelter through many other means, including staying with friends and family, living in hotels or, in some cases, emergency shelters. For many Iowans who lost their homes or saw significant property damages due to flooding or tornadoes, it will take months before repairs or new construction can be built, the governor said.

That’s why the state has submitted an application for its Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for approval. The program would provide federal funding for temporary housing in counties approved for FEMA individual assistance through a presidential Major Disaster Declaration . It’s modeled after temporary housing programs in states impacted by hurricanes, like Florida and Louisiana.

The program, to be administered by the state, would provide temporary housing through mobile homes, travel trailers, recreational vehicles and modular homes for six months following the disaster. The state also has submitted an application to FEMA for a Direct Housing program that would assist with housing solutions up to 18 months after a natural disaster. This program would be administered by FEMA and would place eligible Iowans in longer-term temporary housing like mobile homes on private property and the leasing of available homes and apartments.

In addition to the FEMA-related initiatives, the state is also launching the State Disaster Recovery New Housing Grant and Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance on July 15. The new housing grant program will use $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to provide grants for developers to build single-family, duplex and townhouse properties for sale and for rent in counties eligible for FEMA individual assistance funds. The recovery housing assistance rehabilitation program will provide $6.5 million in state grants for home repairs, managed by the Iowa Finance Authority.

Applications will become available starting July 15 on iowagrants.gov . Additionally, FEMA funding is currently available for people in disaster areas  through the agency’s Individual Assistance and Transitional Sheltering Assistance programs.

Members of Reynolds’ cabinet also talked about other ongoing efforts to assist Iowans in areas affected by recent disasters. Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, encouraged disaster victims to seek food aid through the federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and assistance for mental health crises through the state’s disaster behavioral health response team. Garcia also highlighted efforts through Volunteer Iowa and Americorps to assist with cleanup and other needed services.

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management director John Benson thanked his department’s staff, local emergency management workers and volunteers for their hard work as the state faced months of disasters. But he also emphasized the need for people in impacted communities to take advantage of the services and assistance available to them in the coming months.

“One of the things you will notice — and in particular, we’ve seen this in northwest Iowa — is that ‘Can do, I don’t need help’ attitude,” Benson said. “If you are of that thought process, I would like to discourage you from that thought process, and please apply. Because then you become a known quantity to us and that’s how we can help you.”

Benson encouraged Iowans to visit disasterrecovery.iowa.gov for information about available services and assistance.

According to the state website , a Presidential Disaster Declaration has been issued for severe weather for three separate weather events in Iowa, allowing residents in impacted counties to receive FEMA Individual Assistance aid. Those are:

• Clarke, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, and Union counties for severe storms and tornadoes that occurred April 26 and 27.
• Adair, Adams, Cedar, Jasper, Montgomery, Polk, and Story counties for severe storms that occurred May 20 through 31.
• Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Emmet, Lyon, O’Brien, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury counties for flooding, severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes that began June 16.

Public assistance is also available through FEMA for local, state and tribal governments, as well as certain non-profits organizations for:

• Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth and Sioux counties for flooding, severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes that began June 16 .
• Adair, Adams, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Cedar, Cherokee, Clay, Dallas, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Humboldt, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Kossuth, Marshall, Mitchell, Montgomery, Muscatine, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Shelby, Story, Tama and Wright counties for severe storms that occurred May 20 through 31 .

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