Governor Terry Branstad talked about his tour of the storm damage in Mapleton during his weekly meeting with reporters today. Branstad says he’s amazed that no one died considering the damage and the number of homes and businesses that were destroyed. He says people had enough warning that they were able to get into their basements, and that made a real difference.
Branstad says he was also impressed by the resiliency of the people as the clean up was already well underway by the time he visited.
“The devastation was tremendous and rubble everywhere, but they had the streets clean, they were cleaning yards and helping people in their homes,” Branstad says. The governor issued emergency declarations for Monona and Pocahontas counties, so state resources can be used in the clean-up.
Branstad says everyone is working well together and he says the local officials deserve credit for warning everyone of the storm and then making sure that everyone was okay. Bad weather prevented Branstad from touring all areas of the state that suffered damage, but he says they’re talking with local officials to determine if there’ll be more disaster declarations.
Branstad says there is damage in Sac and Kossuth County and there may be additional disaster designations for those counties. Branstad says they will also review all the damage to see if there is enough to apply for federal disaster assistance.