News Track: $54 million went to impacted Iowans, communities after 2024 floods, tornadoes

DES MOINES — Nearly $54 million has been invested in disaster relief programs established to help Iowans impacted by 2024’s devastating floods and hurricanes, aiding nearly 800 housing units or families, according to state data requested by The Gazette.

More than 5,000 Iowa homes were impacted by natural disasters in 2024 — roughly 2,000 of which were destroyed — primarily by flooding in Northwest Iowa and tornadoes in Southwest Iowa.

Background

Housing was already an issue in Iowa before 2024’s natural disasters exacerbated the problem.

Iowa experienced a record 125 tornadoes in 2024, 98 of which occurred in April and May, according to the National Weather Service. Tornadoes in Minden on April 26 and Greenfield on May 21 resulted in the deaths of six Iowans.

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More than 200 Iowa homes were destroyed by one round of tornadoes in May, including 153 just in Greenfield, according to the state. The tornado in Minden destroyed 48 homes and damaged several dozen more in the town of just roughly 600, according to the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors.

And flash floods were produced in Northwest Iowa — most significantly in Sioux, Clay, Buena Vista, Cherokee and Lyon counties — in late June, when in some areas a year’s worth of rainfall fell over three days, according to the National Weather Service. Three people were killed and more than 300 homes and businesses were destroyed by the flooding, according to NWS.

In response to the multiple natural disasters, Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration established a series of programs to assist Iowans, particularly those who temporarily or permanently lost their housing.

“We have been developing plans for the state’s immediate and long-term recovery for one of the most urgent needs that we’ve heard at every single stop, almost, that we’ve been at, and that is housing,” Reynolds said at a July 2024 press conference that included the leaders of six state agencies and the Iowa National Guard.

Reynolds said the programs were designed, “to address this need for not only temporary housing, but for plans to get permanent housing in place as soon as possible.”

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What’s happened since

Nearly $26 million was spent to temporarily house 222 families — a total of 622 individuals — from August 2024 to May 2025 under the Iowa Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program, which was created in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, according to the governor’s office.

A portion of that cost included 200 camper trailers that later were sold at auction for more than $2.5 million, the governor’s office said.

The state also designated for sale to disaster-impacted Iowans five homes newly constructed by the state’s Homes for Iowa program, under which homes are constructed by prison inmates. Each home cost $95,000 and was 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Three of those five homes were sold to disaster-impacted Iowa families: two in Spencer and one in Rock Valley, according to the governor’s office. There was no interest from disaster-impacted Iowans in the remaining two homes, so they were sold in other parts of the state, the governor’s office said.

Reynolds and state lawmakers allocated $18 million to the Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program to help disaster-impacted homeowners pay for repairs. Conditional awards totaling nearly $16 million were issued to 319 homeowners, according to the Iowa Finance Authority, the state agency that is managing the program.

Through Oct. 9, the state had issued nearly $11 million in reimbursements for those repair expenses, IFA said.

The Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance program provides forgivable, five-year loans up to $50,000 for housing recovery needs not covered by insurance or federal assistance. The program is not new — it was established by the Iowa Legislature in 2021 but never previously funded.

The State Disaster Recovery New Housing Grant Program has awarded nearly $10 million to assist in the development of 238 new housing units in disaster-impacted areas, according to the state.

The program provides $50,000 grants to developers who build single-family homes, duplexes and town homes in Iowa counties that fell under the federal disaster declaration. It was funded with $10 million in federal pandemic relief funding.

Grants have been awarded to developers in Rock Valley, Spencer, Cherokee, Spencer, Minden and Greenfield, among others, according to a list provided by IFA.

The state also created the Disaster Recovery Farmer Interest Program, which reimburses one year of interest paid on federal loans to farmers who are recovering from property damage and losses caused by the severe weather.

Because reimbursement claims cannot be submitted until after an eligible loan has been outstanding for at least one year, no funds have yet been distributed for that program. The IFA said it expects to have updates after Nov. 1.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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