(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Four Iowa counties qualify for disaster proclamations after severe weather [1]
['Jay Waagmeester', 'More From Author', '- July']
Date: 2023-07
Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued disaster proclamations for southern Iowa counties ravaged by storms last week. The actions cover three southeast Iowa counties — Jefferson, Lee and Wapello — plus Ringgold in southwest Iowa.
Melissia Stark, emergency management coordinator for Ringgold County, said damage in the county was primarily in the southwest corner, caused by severe wind and hail.
“We had grain bins displaced, we had I don’t know how many miles of crops were flattened, but there was quite a bit,” Stark said. “There were some homes with siding torn off, there were some buildings that had the roof torn off to basically just the frame, windows were blown out in some buildings.”
Stark received an unofficial measurement of 66 mph winds.
Ringgold County has not reported any injuries or power loss as a result of the storm.
The proclamation for Jefferson, Wapello and Lee counties listed damaging winds, straight-line winds, heavy rains, hail and thunderstorms as the causes of the damage.
Bryan Ziegler, a Wapello County supervisor, said Appanoose County, a county contiguous to Wapello, had storm damage worse than Wapello County.
Mike Lamb, emergency management coordinator for Appanoose, Lucas, Monroe and Davis counties, said he applied for a disaster proclamation for the same storm, but has yet to hear back, as of Monday afternoon.
He said Appanoose experienced power outages in some areas for almost 24 hours. Lamb said he has not heard of any reported injuries from the storm.
“[There was] A lot of debris damage, a lot of wind damage, vegetatively,” Lamb said. “Very few structures were impacted majorly, anyway.”
Lamb said there were a lot of debris and downed trees and there has been a lot of vegetative clean up.
Families up to 200% of the federal poverty level are eligible for $5,000 grants for storm-related costs such as home and car repairs, replacing clothing and food and temporary housing expenses in the counties where a disaster has been proclaimed. The Iowa individual assistance grant program accepts claims for up to 45 days after the disaster declaration.
The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management administers the grant program, as well as the disaster case advocacy program, which addresses serious disaster-related needs by building a recovery plan and accessing available resources.
The proclamation, in place for 30 days, “authorizes the use and deployment of all available state resources, supplies, equipment and materials as are reasonably necessary to assist those citizens located in the disaster counties.”
Previously, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services assisted with emergency management by administering these programs, but duty shifted with government organization changes.
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