Jones Co. included in Governor’s disaster declaration

     The Jones County Supervisors held a special meeting at 4 p.m. on Aug. 12 to approve a disaster declaration from the derecho storm that hit the southern part of the county on Aug. 10.

     Emergency Management Coordinator Brenda Leonard presented the declaration to the board. Later that day, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation herself, adding Jones County to the growing list of counties that were devastated by the storm.

     “The proclamation now allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather. The proclamation also activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program.”

     Leonard said there has been a lot of misinformation regarding the disaster declaration. Since she started in her position in Jones County in 2004, Leonard has seen a dozen or more disaster declarations signed, and said it does not open the door for residential assistance, nor that of agriculture land.

     “The proclamation tells the state that we’ve reached the end of our resources and request resources from the state,” she said.

     The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or a maximum annual income of $43,440 for a family of three. Applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

     The Disaster Case Management Program “addresses serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse condition.” There is no income eligibility requirements.

     Once the Governor included Jones County in her own disaster declaration, assistance became available to homeowners and farmers.

     Leonard said since the storm over a week ago, she was fielding phone calls, texts, and e-mails from people in need of generators. She was able to secure one for Olin Schools to keep their walk-in freezer running to save the food.

     “In this type of an event,” Leonard said, “so much food was lost because of lack of refrigeration.”

     In order to qualify for the disaster declaration, Leonard said the county has to show damage amounts up to roughly $80,000. This does not include private property damage, but damage to county property. County Engineer Derek Snead said numerous street signs were damaged, to the tune of about $20,000 (including time, materials, labor, and equipment). There was also damage to Grant Wood Park and Central Park.

     “There’s not a sign left in the southern part of the county,” remarked County Supervisor Ned Rohwedder.

     As of Monday morning, Aug. 17, almost 9 percent of Jones County was still without power, or 963 customers. This includes Alliant Energy and Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative customers. (On Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 12, Leonard reported 41 percent of the county without power.)

     “A lot of (electric) services was ripped from homes,” said Leonard. “The issue is trying to find an electrician to fix it before the service is turned on.”

     Other damage throughout Jones County included: barns and grain bins, trees lying across roadways, and issues with EMS radio signals. Leonard said while 112 mph winds were reported in Linn County, Jones County saw wind gusts of 70 to 77 mph.

     “The sustained wind did most of the damage,” she said.

     On Aug. 16, Reynolds requested an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for parts of Iowa impacted by the storm. Her financial request in order to help Iowa recover was close to $4 billion.