Programs to help impacted businesses and landlords, provide additional help for homeowners

Press Release
Thursday, November 12, 2009

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver today announced four new disaster assistance programs for small businesses and landlords impacted by the 2008 storms and floods, as well as improvements to the duplication of benefits policy for homeowners, at a press conference in Cedar Rapids.

The new business assistance programs will be funded by $85 million of the state’s nearly $800 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“It gives me great pleasure to say we have additional assistance for Iowa’s hard-working small business owners and landlords,” Governor Culver said. “As the state of Iowa continues to recover from one of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history, more help is now available to those trying to keep their doors open for business. We believe the programs announced today will fill a gap that currently exists.”

The Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) and Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) worked closely with business leaders and landlords across the state to develop the following programs, which will assist with remaining unmet needs:

Business Rental Assistance Program:
This program is for businesses remaining in or locating in rental space that was physically damaged by the 2008 natural disasters. Initially, this program allowed business owners up to $50,000 to help offset building rental lease payments for a maximum of six months. Now in addition to rental payments, recipients will be allowed to use the $50,000 for expenses associated with replacing damaged machinery, office furniture, supplies and other equipment. The maximum award a business can receive through this program is $50,000.

Loan Interest Expense Program:
The continued existence of many businesses is threatened by the expense of new debt acquired as a result of the disasters. This program provides funds to business owners to pay for the interest on an SBA or private loan for disaster recovery. Up to a total of $50,000 in funds will be provided to a business, for a maximum of three (3) years.

Commercial Rental Income Gap Program:
This program is designed to assist with cash flow for commercial building owners to offset lost revenue from vacant rental space that was physically damaged by the disaster. A maximum of $25,000 for lost rent will be reimbursed to commercial landlords per unit.

Residential Landlord Business Support Program:
This program is designed to compensate disaster-impacted residential landlords providing affordable housing for lost rental income. Landlords may receive up to $15,000 per business impacted by the disaster.

One application will be available for all of these programs. Funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Small business owners and landlords should apply at their local Council of Government or Entitlement City. Applications will be available by December in most locations.

At today’s press conference, Governor Culver also announced improvements to the housing duplication of benefits policy. When the Jumpstart Housing program was first announced, any type of down payment assistance – or award a homeowner received to purchase a replacement house – was considered a bridge loan, meaning eventually the money had to be repaid after a buyout took place.

After long conversations with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State has finally received approval for Iowans who received state or federal assistance through the Jumpstart program to keep up to $25,000 of their down payment assistance award towards a replacement or newly constructed home. Up to $25,000 of this money will no longer be deducted from a person’s buyout funds.

“The average price of a home in a buyout as a result of the 2008 disasters costs much less than the average price of a home sold in Iowa today, leaving people with a gap that we need to help fill,” said Governor Culver. “By allowing homeowners to keep up to $25,000 toward a new home, we can help meet that need.”

The Governor also encouraged impacted Iowans who are in a buyout and have identified a replacement home to apply for down payment assistance at their local Council of Government or Entitlement City as soon as possible, if they haven’t done so already. Depending on their income, homeowners may qualify for down payment assistance, which can then be used toward the purchase of a replacement home.

For additional information on these programs or for a listing of area Council of Governments or Entitlement Cities, log on to the Rebuild Iowa Office Web site at www.rio.iowa.gov or call (515) 242-5004.

From Tragedy To Togetherness: The Story Of A Flood

From Tragedy To Togetherness: The Story Of A Flood
by Lyz Lenz
Via YourTango.com

For two weeks in June 2008, heavy rains and widespread flooding pummeled the Midwest. The nation’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, the floodwaters decimated downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, causing an estimated five billion dollars in damage and displacing over 2,000 people. The waters of the Cedar River crested at 31.2 feet, the highest in the town’s 168-year history. The flood ripped buildings from their foundations, tumbling and twisting homes and offices.

My husband and I watched all of this on the news. “Look,” said my husband pointing to the television. “It’s the library.” Only one floor of the two-story concrete building was showing above the water. The white walls reflected against the dark water. I remembered how I had just returned some books there only the day before; I started crying.

The flood ruined our town. Our home was lucky enough to be spared damage, but the marketing company where I worked was destroyed. Six months after the flood, I helped hang a banner declaring that the company was back in newly remodeled offices. The next day, I was laid off. Several more layoffs followed. The waters had receded, but the effects of the flood were still being felt. The flood caused approximately 7,000 job losses. In a city of 126,000 that loss hurts, and that was before the full brunt of the recession hit.

As a couple, my husband and I volunteered—gutting and cleaning homes and businesses until I got sick with migraines and nausea. The doctor chalked my illness up to allergies and tensions from the flood. The stress took a toll. I yelled at my husband when I thought he’d violated the water ban (we could only use water in our house on the odd calendar days). He rolled his eyes when I cried in front of the news. We stopped going out to eat; our favorite restaurants had been filled with water. The effects of the disaster were wearing on us, and we hadn’t even lost our home.

On June 9, 2008 Linda, 65, and Max, 62, were evacuated from their home where they had lived for 30 years. “We didn’t think it would be too bad. Maybe just the basement would have water,” says Max.

“We walked out of our home with the clothes on our backs,” Linda says. “We lost everything in the flood.” But she shakes her head and quickly corrects herself. “Well, not everything.” She smiles and leans in toward Max. Their house was filled with eight feet of water. A small sign on their newly painted living room wall marks the flood line.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY…

A and W Root Beer in CR struggles to recover

Doug Ward drives through a subdivision made up of rows of trailers. You can hear the sadness in his voice as he says, “This just doesn’t feel like home.” He longs for the life he lived before devastating floods destroyed his Cedar Rapids neighborhood.

“I want to come back. I miss (my friends) very much,” Ward said as he escorted CNN on a tour of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, nearly a year after the floods.

Ward, 64, is an institution in the historic Time Check neighborhood just across the Cedar River from downtown. He owns the A&W Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard, a fixture on this street since 1948.

Historian Mark Stoffer Hunter calls the drive-in Cedar Rapids’ “Eiffel Tower.”

“It’s been there for us over the decades,” Hunter said. “It’s one of those landmarks that tells you you’re in Cedar Rapids.”

When floodwaters ravaged Cedar Rapids last June, Ward’s drive-in drowned in almost 10 feet of water. Now, the drive-in sits in ruins. A&W root beer mugs covered in dried mud sit on the restaurant floor. The stench of floodwater lingers in the air.

Putting together the pieces of Ward’s life hit a snag in the fall of 2008 when an economic storm swept across the country. In a matter of months, the financial support Ward needed to rebuild dried up.

“Life’s got to go on. If you sit and worry about it too much, you’d probably be at my funeral today,” Ward said.

Ward estimates that it will cost close to $1 million to rebuild the A&W Drive-In at its current location. He’s been able to line up $350,000 in loans, but that’s far short of what he needs.

READ THE COMPLETE STORY ON CNN

Story Highlights
- The A&W in Cedar Rapids was Doug Ward’s life for 30 years until last year’s flood
- Almost a year later, the drive-in sits in ruins, the root beer mugs still muddied
- The drive-in has been a landmark in the Time Check neighborhood since 1948
- It will cost upward of $1 million to rebuild or change locations

Cedar Rapids Flood Story

The Flood of 2008 forever changed Cedar Rapids. When the Cedar River crested, it extended well beyond the 500-year floodplain and covered more than 10 square miles of the city. A year later, thousands of residents are still struggling to rebuild.

While Iowans are known for strength and resilience, the people of Cedar Rapids can only do so much on their own and are left behind by a federal disaster funding system that some say is broken. This is not the first national disaster, and it won’t be the last.

Right now in Cedar Rapids (Palo is a prime example), entire neighborhoods sit empty and rotting. Businesses struggling to rebuild also fight to survive. The state of the economy is not helping the situation either.

The committee, the Cedar Rapids Public Relations (CRPR) group, began meeting February 2009 on a volunteer basis to help address one of the primary post-flood communication challenges. Committee members have spent countless volunteer hours creating a communitywide flood message, listing viable story leads, designing an interactive website, producing a collaborative video and crafting a compelling media kit.

Today marks the official launch of Cedar Rapids Flood Story, a website designed as a way to get out the word about Cedar Rapids. The flood stories are stories that need to be told. When significant destruction hits a vibrant and productive community, every American should care.

Rebuild Iowa

Iowans experienced one of the most devastating series of natural disasters in our state’s history. Now, in true Iowa spirit, it’s time to rebuild.

The Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) was established by Governor Chet Culver to coordinate the state-wide recovery effort after the historic floods, tornadoes and severe weather of 2008. The RIO works with all local, state and federal recovery partners to encourage cooperation and communication toward a holistic recovery approach and to ensure a successful recovery for Iowa.

The RIO, headed by Lt. Governor Patty Judge, is a state agency, with legal authority granted to it by the Governor in his June 27, 2008, Executive Order 7. The mission of the RIO is to ensure that the State of Iowa rebuilds safer, stronger and smarter than before from the catastrophic flooding and severe storms of 2008.

To help the state work towards a full recovery, the Rebuild Iowa Office is engaged in many diverse activities including the following:

• Community and Regional Recovery Planning
• Disaster Recovery Case Management Coordination
• Housing, Economic, Infrastructure and Environmental Recovery
• Communications and Constituent Services

Throughout its initiatives, the RIO is committed to a recovery and rebuilding process that is fair and equitable to everyone.

Visit the Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) online: Website | Facebook |  LinkedIn |  Twitter

Contact the Office:
502 E. Ninth St.
Wallace Building
Second Floor
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: (515) 242-5004
Fax: (515) 242-5006
contact@rio.iowa.gov

Iowa Floods of 2008

The Iowa floods of 2008, which began around June 8, 2008 and spanned till July 1, was a historic event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa. The flooding included the Upper Iowa River, the Wapsipinicon River and Iowa River, the Cedar River, the Des Moines Riverand the Upper Mississippi River. The floods of 2008 had had a tremendous affect on the state of Iowa people throughout Iowa where affected in many ways. The amount of devastation in communities like Cedar Rapids, Palo, Iowa City, Burlington, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo is unimaginable. Rivers crested many feet above previously recorded levels.

The flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were the most significant. Majority of the downtown area in Cedar Rapids was impacted by the floods, making recovery a very costly affair. In Iowa City, the University of Iowa campus suffered millions of dollars in damage. Some of the victims have lost not only their homes but also their communities.

The total amount of damage to the state of Iowa as a result of the floods was estimated near 2 billion dollars. Over5,300 homes were damaged and over 1,000 Businesses were damaged.

For more information about the floods and the areas around Iowa impacted, check out our news and links. For those still in need of assistance, click on one of the following links or contact one of Iowa’s Congressmen or Senators.

FEMA: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) http://www.fema.gov/
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/
HHS: http://www.hhs.gov/
PRESIDENT OBAMA

SENATOR GRASSLEY
SENATOR HARKIN

Representative Bruce Braley
Representative Dave Loebsack
Representative Leonard L. Boswell
Representative Tom Latham
Representative Steve King