More than 5,000 Iowa households approved for FEMA assistance for storm damages

More than 5,000 Iowa households have been approved for federal assistance following damages caused by recent tornados, flooding and storms, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday.

According to a FEMA news release, more than $61 million in total has been approved for Iowans through FEMA assistance programs in the aftermath of extreme weather throughout Iowa in 2024. A majority of that funding — $56 million — has gone to Iowans through the Individual Assistance program, the federal program that provides funding for the costs of property destroyed by natural disasters, as well as for medical and legal expenses related to severe weather.

The remaining $5 million has gone to flood claims for Iowa policyholders through the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program.

Iowa has been affected by numerous severe weather systems in recent months that have triggered national assistance. President Joe Biden made a major disaster declaration in May for areas affected by tornados, followed by a June declaration for Iowa counties hit by historic flooding. The presidential disaster declarations opened up federal funding sources for Iowa homeowners, businesses and local governments through FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, allowing for the federal government to provide assistance to people facing loss of property and major damages following the storms.

In addition to the Individual Assistance program, the State of Iowa is also working with the federal agency on the Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program, approved in July, to assist Iowans displaced from their homes because of severe weather. The program, administered by the state, provides temporary housing like mobile homes, travel trailers and recreational vehicles to people in disaster-affected areas for six months following the weather event. The state also submitted an application for a direct housing program, to be administered by FEMA, that would provide housing solutions for people up to 18 months after a natural disaster.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said in July that these housing initiatives are needed to help keep Iowans in their home communities when their property is destroyed or uninhabitable due to tornados and flooding. More than 5,000 homes were affected by recent severe weather patterns in Iowa, Reynolds said, and 2,000 homes were estimated to be destroyed.

As Iowans seek to recover from the recent natural disasters, federal funding is still available in counties under federal disaster declarations through the Individual Assistance program, according to FEMA. With a deadline of Aug. 23, applications for eligible households are open for people in Adair, Adams, Buena Vista, Cedar, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Harrison, Humboldt, Jasper, Lyon, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, Sioux, Story, Union and Woodbury counties.