Request for Public Assistance Deadline Extended for Iowa Counties
Release Date: July 30, 2008
Release Number: 1763-125
» More Information on Iowa Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa state and local agencies and certain private non-profit organizations that are eligible for federal disaster assistance are running out of time to apply.
Public Assistance (PA) funds for reimbursement or restoration are available in 80 Iowa counties as part of the federal disaster declaration for severe weather, tornadoes and flooding beginning May 25 and continuing. These funds are for expenses or damage incurred during the disaster and cover items such as debris removal, emergency protective measures, repair or replacement of roads, bridges, water control facilities, buildings, equipment, utilities, parks and other facilities.
To apply, eligible agencies and organizations must first submit a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) to the state of Iowa. Applicants normally have 30 days from the date their county was designated eligible for PA to submit an RPA.
Due to the scope of this disaster and continuing incident period, all county deadlines to submit RPAs have been extended to Aug. 29.
As of July 29, 903 RPAs have been submitted, but officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) believe there are many other eligible organizations that have yet to apply.
The main goal of FEMA's Public Assistance program is to restore facilities to pre-disaster levels. However, there are funds available that allow certain projects to be rebuilt to a higher standard if it can be demonstrated that increased costs will save money in the future.
The 80 counties designated for Public Assistance are: Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Howard, Humboldt, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Mitchell, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, Page, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Scott, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Webster, Winneshiek, Worth and Wright.
FEMA coordinates the federal governments role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Friday, 01-Aug-2008 16:05:42