Last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Harrison County in response to the severe winter weather that occurred on March 19.
To this point, Harrison County is the only county to receive such a proclamation, which allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of the storm.
The proclamation came soon after Harrison County EMA Director Bonnie Castillo reached out to the state providing information to justify assistance.
Two programs are being deployed as part of the response — the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Advocacy Program.
The former provides grants up to $7,000 for households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level, and the grants are available for things like home and car repairs, replacement of personal property or food, as well as temporary housing expenses.
According to the governor's office, original receipts are required for individuals seeking reimbursement for expenses related to storm recovery.
The Disaster Case Advocacy Program is available to anyone, regardless of income, and is intended to support and partner disaster impacted households with disaster case advocates. These advocates will work with clients to “create a disaster recovery plan and serve as a primary point of contact assisting households in coordinating necessary services and resources to address disaster recovery needs,” according to a statement from the governor's office.
The grant application can be found on the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management's website: homelandsecurity.iowa.gov
Those interested have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to apply, which is April 26.
The details for the advocacy program can be found at iowacommunityaction.org.
Castillo shared with the Times-News last week that she plans to schedule a day or two in each of the county's impacted communities and utilize city halls or fire stations for people to come and get help with the application process.
“I'm hearing a lot of need, and I've got a lot of people reaching out,” she said. “I really believe that we will have people take advantage of this program.”
Castillo said she has had people report wind damage, shingles being blown off, siding damage, power surges and many people asking how they can get their food replaced.
Following the storm, it became apparent to Castillo that this was much bigger than a blizzard passing through and the snow melting soon after. With an apparent need, she made a request to Iowa Homeland Security for a public assistance review, which, if successful, can lead to aid activation. The public assistance helps with issues like helping rural electric cooperatives (REC) and co-ops recover and recouping generator costs.
The threshold to meet for that activation is $57,000 of damage in the county.
“We have met that just with what the RECs reported,” Castillo said.
The statewide threshold to meet is $5.8 million for all impacted counties and, as of last Friday, Castillo said that estimates had surpassed that figure but they still had to go through the justification process with Iowa Homeland Security.
“Just for our power grids, we're getting close to about $7 million for all of the impacted counties,” she said.
In Harrison County specifically, as power stayed out for longer, Castillo started hearing about people losing all of their groceries and having to go to hotels. Because of that, she made a formal request to the state to activate the individual assistance grant.
Castillo was able to make multiple updates to the initial request as mayors and individuals within county towns provided information about damage to their homes and businesses.
Castillo's final report to the state was made last Wednesday night, and Thursday morning the governor issued the proclamation.
Look for more information in the Times-News and on the Harrison County EMA Facebook page for when and where you can receive help in applying for aid.
