The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says damage that can be totaled right now runs in the millions for parks and wildlife. The D.N.R.’s Dianne Ford-Shivers says there are a still lot of unknowns. She says the current total impact estimate now is 12-million dollars, but they don’t know what the total impact on revenue will be, and some of the water hasn’t gone down yet.
The storms and flooding spread out across the state, and Ford-Shivers says the damage reflects that. Ford-Shivers says it’s a toss up between the state parks and the wildlife areas over which one was hit the hardest. She says the state has about 35-thousand acres of crop lands that lost about one million dollars in revenue for the coming year. There was a big hit in lost income from those who visit state parks.
Ford-Shivers says they had about one million dollars in refunds from the camps and lodges, and the fisheries bureau also took a hit, as people weren’t fishing in the early part of the year. She says the lost revenue from fishing licenses is around $700,000, and it’s hard to know if they will make any of that money up.
Ford-Shivers says the state will get help with some of the physical damage. She says they’re working closely with FEMA to assess the damage and will cost-share the infrastructure rebuilding on a 75% federal and 25% state cost basis. Ford-Shivers says the lost revenue from lost camping days due to the disasters can’t be made up.