'A unified effort': Progress in Spencer steady as town hit with historic, deadly flood

SPENCER — Leonard Rust says he was lucky.

Rust, 83, who is hard of hearing and has cancer in his right arm, was in one of the hundreds of homes that was inundated with floodwaters from the Little Sioux River on Saturday. The basement of his home, just south of East Leach Park along the river, was filled to the brim with floodwaters.

But the home he built himself 60 years ago is salvageable — unlike some of his neighbors' and those in other parts of Spencer.

Rust had a rally of supporters, including his son-in-law and members of his church, helping clean out his basement and rummage through what may be salvageable Thursday.

"We live in Iowa. It's just what we do here," said Jeff Knudtson, a long-time friend who was helping Rust clean up. "We're going to get through it and rebuild. We'll make it."

Rust still is working on cleaning up after northwest Iowa saw historic flooding starting Saturday. Spencer, a town of around 11,000 residents, saw record-high river levels, killing at least one person and damaging hundreds of homes in the process. The city sits at the convergence of the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan rivers, the latter of which surpassed its record set in 1953 by 4 feet. The Little Sioux barely missed its record by .02 feet.

East Leach Park, which is on the southern edge of the Little Sioux, is a known floodplain. But it has never flooded like this.

"Nobody would have ever thought that we would have got this high here in this area," Knudtson said. "I've never seen it like this. I've lived here my whole life and I'm 70 years old."

Spencer Mayor Steve Bomgaars said there is an ongoing assessment but estimates the flood impacted — if not devastated — around 40% of the city's homes. Hundreds of residents were evacuated and rescued from the fast-rising waters.

"We rescued about 383 people," Bomgaars said. "About three-fourths of those were from the south side of town, and a fourth were from the north side of town."

Heaps of water-logged belongings scattered most of the curbs in Spencer. Some homes have a red "X" painted on the sides, indicating they have structural issues after the flood. Homes, like Rust's, have reinforced foundations and aren't marked with the "X", marking them as salvageable.

Some in Spencer still are without power or gas service, while water service was restored Wednesday. Homeowners are asked to enter their homes with caution.

But Spencer will pull through, Bomgaars said.

"The community of Spencer is strong," Bomgaars said. "We're going to get through this, but it's going to take time. But we have gotten to this point because it's a unified effort."

Gov. Reynolds tours devastated homes, talks to residents Thursday

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made her second trip to Spencer on Thursday, this time with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell. The two did a walking tour there and in Rock Valley and Cherokee, two other cities hit hard by flooding.

"What I saw today was the spirit of the community, the spirit of all the people coming together and helping each other, whether their home was impacted or not," Criswell said. "They're really just coming together to support each other because we know that the recovery is going to take some time."

Spencer is in one of the five northwest Iowa counties approved for a presidential disaster declaration, which allows residents to apply for FEMA's individual assistance program and get federal funding to rebuild. Iowa counties that qualify for the benefits include: Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth and Sioux.

"We can see firsthand the devastation from the unprecedented flooding that just occurred," Reynolds said to a crowd of residents on Thursday. "Thank you to the president and his team for granting the expedited presidential declaration."

"I'm just grateful to the emergency managers, all the first responders, the volunteers and the local officials that are trying to figure out how to move forward," she said.

Since flooding began Saturday, Reynolds has issued disaster proclamations for 32 counties in northwest and western Iowa, many of which saw record-high rivers. Her proclamation suspends some regulations to make it easier for Iowans and cities to recover.

For those who qualify for FEMA assistance, Criswell said applying online is the easiest and fastest way to get help. Apply online at disasterassistance.gov.

"That starts the federal assistance, but it also helps us start to clinically get the resources that the city, the county and the governor are bringing in," she said. "It's going to take all of us to meet all of the needs that each of these families are experiencing."

Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@dmreg.com.