Governor Kim Reynolds and the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency surveyed flood damage in Rock Valley, Spencer, and Cherokee on Thursday. They saw homes with foundations caved in by high water levels on the Little Sioux River.
Five counties are approved for individual assistance from FEMA under a Presidential Disaster Declaration, while nine counties qualify for federal help to rebuild flooded infrastructure.
In addition to Adair County, the governor says 28 more counties are approved for public assistance under the earlier Major Federal Disaster Declaration for floods and storms in late May.
The first presidential declaration for the May storms covers 29 counties: Adair, Adams, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Cedar, Cherokee, Clay, Dallas, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Humboldt, Jasper, Iowa, Jackson, Kossuth, Marshall, Mitchell, Montgomery, Muscatine, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Shelby, Story, Tama and Wright. The second presidential declaration for the June flooding covers five: Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth, and Sioux counties.