Iowa nonprofit suffers $1 million flood damages, woman shares recovery journey.

Iowa nonprofit suffers $1 million flood damages, woman shares recovery journey.

The True Cost of Extreme Weather: The Economic Impact of Flooding in the US

This article is part of Insider’s “The True Cost of Extreme Weather” project. Read more here.

June marked yet another anniversary of something Barb Grant hopes to never go through again — but knows she could. “Whenever flooding is predicted, I rather nervously watch the forecasts and the river,” she told Insider. During the summer of 2008, record-breaking flooding hit much of eastern Iowa, where Grant lives. While her home was largely unscathed, the Waterloo, Iowa office of the nonprofit she runs — and where she’d put in years of work — was destroyed.

This recovery journey Grant went on is one many Americans are going through, and many more are likely to embark on in the coming decades. Over the next 30 years, the cost of flood damage in the US is expected to rise by 26% because of the climate crisis, a 2022 Scientific American analysis found. In many coastal cities, floods are at least five times as common as they were in the 1950s.

Torrential rains and snow melt mean flooding is an almost daily event in the US. It’s so common, in fact, that flooding is the most frequent — and costliest — type of natural disaster in the country, according to the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts. Floods in July in Vermont are a reminder that too much water isn’t just a coastal problem — something Grant knows well. Worst of all for her, the ruinous flooding meant Operation Threshold, which helps thousands of low-income individuals and families across three Iowa counties become self-sufficient, couldn’t operate.

“So many of the families that flooded were people that we normally serve,” Grant, executive director of Operation Threshold, said. “And so they’d come by the building and be like, ‘Hey, I need some help with X.’ And we’re like, ‘Yeah, we can’t really help you right now.’”

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Grant worries that her community might need help again when floods made worse by a warming planet strike — even though the city of Waterloo has taken steps to reduce its vulnerability.

Floods can be a perennial concern in Iowa: In August, Gov. Kim Reynolds requested relief for $6 million in damages to seven Iowa counties from the Mississippi River flooding in April and May. But it could have been much worse. In 2019, flooding in the state was responsible for at least $1.6 billion in damages.

The cost of flooding: Financial impacts and recovery efforts

When floods strike, there are often wide-ranging financial impacts, something Grant can attest to. Excluding lost items, the organization’s main building suffered roughly $461,000 worth of damage — the cost it would take to repair the building to its predisaster level — according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The secondary building had $225,000 worth of damage. In total, the cost to repair the buildings and replace the contents lost was about $907,000 after accounting for some insurance coverage.

As Grant’s story illustrates, it’s not just coastal cities that are at serious risk of flooding. There’s been an uptick in Midwestern states over the past decades.

Operation Threshold owned two office buildings in downtown Waterloo — where torrential rains caused the Cedar River that runs through the city to reach a record 27 feet. The waters reached downtown, flooding the roads with up to a few feet of water. Both buildings — and the items within them — suffered significant damage. The waters submerged both basements and rose as high as 30 inches on the main office’s first floor.

The total cost to replace the contents lost across the two buildings — including cabinets, furniture, and office supplies — was roughly $187,000, according to records provided to Insider. This included expenses such as $12,000 for a new copier, $3,000 for storage cabinets, $1,300 each for a shredder and refrigerator, and $1,100 each for electric typewriters and a snowblower.

In the aftermath of the flooding, Grant said the plethora of paper documents in the office wouldn’t dry enough to shred. The solution was to rent a dump truck. “We got permission from our state staff that allowed us to burn them,” she said. “And so somebody took them outside of city limits and had a big bonfire of records that were destroyed.”

Grant shared a document that detailed nearly $10,000 worth of miscellaneous cleanup costs, including $500 to rent the dump truck, $1,300 for document destruction, and $800 to rent a skid loader and trailer, as well as expenses related to removing the drywall and carpet.

To keep the operation running, Grant said the organization initially found a classroom to use as a substitute office. After some time, the nonprofit found a roughly 3,000-square-foot space to rent that was much smaller than the 11,000-square-foot office the staff was used to. The organization was eventually forced to rent some additional space. “We used every inch of that building that we could to try to keep costs down and just get us through,” Grant said.

Rebuilding and the ongoing risk of flooding

The organization had to decide whether to try to repair its buildings or explore the construction of new ones. It ultimately chose to proceed with the construction of one new building, Grant said, in part because the city of Waterloo committed to purchasing the main office for roughly $400,000 and providing the land for the construction of the new building.

But a new office doesn’t come cheap: Grant said an audit the organization did put the total cost of building the new office at just over $4 million. The money for it came from a variety of sources, including FEMA, the city of Waterloo, and a state program that brought in $2 million. The organization also received a loan from a local credit union and pocketed roughly $12,000 by selling its secondary office building.

Nearly three years later, Operation Threshold held an open house to celebrate the completion of a new building just east of downtown Waterloo. Fortunately, the organization’s new office hasn’t experienced major flooding, but three apartment buildings the organization owns have been hit by flash floods. As flooding becomes more frequent across the US, Grant knows that the risk remains.

“The city of Waterloo has invested in more lift stations and is in a better position to manage potential flooding,” she said, referring to measures that help redirect excess water. “But even with that said, it always remains a concern in the back of your mind.”

Barb Grant’s story highlights the devastating economic impact of flooding in the US. It serves as a reminder that floods are not just a coastal problem but a rising threat across the country. As climate change intensifies, the frequency and severity of floods are expected to increase, leading to higher costs for recovery and rebuilding efforts.

The financial toll of flooding is felt not only by individuals and families but also by organizations like Operation Threshold. The cost of repairing damaged buildings and replacing lost contents can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention the additional expenses for cleanup, relocation, and temporary office spaces.

While measures are being taken to mitigate the risk of flooding, the threat always looms large. For communities like Waterloo, investing in infrastructure, such as lift stations, is crucial for managing potential flooding. However, the ever-present concern remains, and communities must be prepared to face the ongoing challenges posed by climate change and its impact on extreme weather events.

As the US faces the mounting costs of flood damage, it is imperative to prioritize climate resilience and develop strategies to adapt and protect vulnerable areas. By investing in sustainable infrastructure and implementing effective disaster management plans, we can mitigate the economic and human toll of flooding and build a more secure future for all.