A northwest Iowa community devastated by historic flooding is getting $22 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for home buyouts.
The announcement, first shared by Iowa's 4th Congressional District Rep. Randy Feentra on social media Tuesday, marks a significant milestone for Rock Valley, a city of 4,000 people, still trying to recover from one of the worst natural disasters in its history.
In the early morning hours of June 22, 2024, catastrophic flooding struck after days of heavy rainfall across northwest Iowa. The Rock River surged out of its banks and blew through a protective berm that had been built after another record-breaking flood a decade earlier. Water quickly inundated neighborhoods, forcing rescues and displacing hundreds of people.
Roughly 500 homes sustained some level of damage. Businesses, schools and public infrastructure were also heavily affected.
The federal relief money will be used to buy out 104 private properties.
“This is great news for the community of Rock Valley and the families that were affected by the 2024 flooding,” FEMA Region 7 Acting Administrator Jay Van Der Werff said. “This acquisition project was made possible through strong partnerships between Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the local officials in Rock Valley.”
Rock Valley City Administrator Tom Van Maanen first requested the funding in December 2024 and said he's relieved to finally have an answer.
“We see the pain of people that aren’t able to move on with the flood until their previous property has been resolved,” Van Maanen said. “Just being able to share that message, 'Hey, it's obligated, we will be moving forward shortly. Your relief is finally here,' it’s brought a lot of energy back into our whole process.”
Once purchased, the properties can no longer be developed for residential purposes and will be transformed into green space to try and reduce future flood risk.
FEMA also awarded Rock Valley $3.5 million more to help pay for cleanup and repairs. Additional funding will cover the cost of relocating a home in Sioux Rapids and Hawarden.
In June, FEMA provided $2 million to the Rock Valley Public Library and $370,000 to the Rock Valley Reformed Church for building repairs. Since the flooding, Rock Valley has worked through a lengthy recovery process while seeking state and federal assistance.
I am honored to announce that communities in Northwest Iowa will receive more than $27 million in FEMA Disaster Relief funding for recovery following the devastating floods and other natural disasters, including $22 million for the City of Rock Valley.
— Rep. Randy Feenstra (@RepFeenstra) June 30, 2026
I have worked closely…
Van Mannen said the FEMA allocation provides certainty for families who have spent months wondering what would happen next.
“In defense of FEMA, the home buyout program is not designed to be an immediate response to the flood,” Van Mannen said. “It’s understandable why people are frustrated. I, myself, was frustrated with the process, just because I wanted to help people in the community, but I can’t hold it against FEMA — that’s their normal process."
Van Mannen said the next five or six weeks will be spent on paperwork in order to comply with federal regulations before demolition of houses can begin.
“One of the things that we have already started, even before the obligation, was getting abstracts updated, since that is probably one of the slower parts of setting up a closing to acquire properties,” Van Maanen said.
