Branstad welcomes presidential disaster declaration for six western Iowa counties

DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad welcomed President Obama's authorization of a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for six western Iowa counties impacted by ongoing flooding conditions along the Missouri River.

“I am pleased to see the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for these six counties came through,” Branstad said June 27 after the White House announced the authorization. “As we are still actively fighting the flood, this declaration provides a much needed financial boost to our local governments.”

Under the authorization, which the president signed a day ahead of visiting Eastern Iowa, federal funding will be available to Iowa and eligible local governments and certain private, non-profit organizations on a cost-sharing basis in Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie and Woodbury counties for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Branstad, who Monday toured the flood-affected areas with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Gen. Derek Hill and U.S. Rep. Steve King, plans to discuss Missouri River flooding with Obama when he meets with the president in Riverdale in the Quad Cities. Obama will tour Alcoa Works as part of his effort to promote American manufacturing.

Damage has already run into “tens of millions of dollars,” Branstad said, and he expects it will continue to climb.

“It's going to be a long challenge … a long flood fight,” he said at his Monday morning news conference at the Capitol.

Branstad, who has spoken to the governors of all of the Missouri River Basin states, said Montana's governor told him the snowpack in that state was 380 percent of normal and there still are five to six feet of snow at some elevations.

“It's going to be a very critical sit for a long time,” he said.

The declaration is important “for communities like Hamburg, Council Bluffs and Sioux City, and virtually all the communities along the Missouri River that have expended a lot of money just to protect themselves,” Branstad said. “They should be eligible for 80 percent reimbursement.”

“It would give people a sense of greater assurance and security that what they are doing at the local level is getting federal support as well as the state support they need,” he added.