Disaster Data / States / Iowa
Iowa: Federal Disaster Declarations
Iowa has recorded 42 major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 4 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 46 in all. Its most common hazard is severe storm. It ranks #14 nationally by major disasters.
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 25, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
Past 12 months
Recent declarations and aid so far
Iowa has had 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.
| Declaration | Declared | Households approved | Individual Assistance | Public Assistance obligated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4942-IAMajor disaster · Severe Storm | Sep 1, 2026Incident period Jul 1 to 4, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile.
Federal Public Assistance obligated
$2.8B has been obligated to Iowa in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$2.3B followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $3M followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $543M, or 19% of the total, was COVID-19, which every state and county in the country received.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out. Totals are summed from funded localities, so a declaration administered entirely at state level may not appear here.
Most common hazards
- Severe Storm 29
- Flood 9
- Biological 3
- Winter Storm 1
- Tornado 1
- Severe Ice Storm 1
- Snowstorm 1
- Hurricane 1
All declarations on record
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every state and county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance
Showing 46 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | DR-4942-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| May 21, 2025 | DR-4870-IA | DR | Winter Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| Jun 24, 2024 | DR-4796-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes |
| May 24, 2024 | DR-4784-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| May 14, 2024 | DR-4779-IA | DR | Tornado | Severe Storms And Tornadoes |
| Aug 25, 2023 | DR-4732-IA | DR | Flood | Flooding |
| Feb 23, 2022 | DR-4642-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes |
| Sep 10, 2020 | DR-4561-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds |
| Aug 17, 2020 | DR-4557-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms |
| Mar 23, 2020 | DR-4483-IA | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3480-IA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3524-IA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Apr 29, 2019 | DR-4430-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Mar 23, 2019 | DR-4421-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Sep 12, 2018 | DR-4392-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storm And Tornadoes |
| Aug 20, 2018 | DR-4386-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Aug 27, 2017 | DR-4334-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Oct 31, 2016 | DR-4289-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Sep 29, 2016 | DR-4281-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jul 31, 2015 | DR-4234-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Aug 5, 2014 | DR-4187-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jul 24, 2014 | DR-4184-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jul 14, 2014 | DR-4181-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jul 31, 2013 | DR-4135-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| Jul 2, 2013 | DR-4126-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| May 31, 2013 | DR-4119-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| May 6, 2013 | DR-4114-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| Aug 30, 2011 | DR-4018-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Aug 24, 2011 | DR-4016-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jun 27, 2011 | DR-1998-IA | DR | Flood | Flooding |
| May 5, 2011 | DR-1977-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds |
| Jul 29, 2010 | DR-1930-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes |
| Jul 27, 2010 | DR-1928-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Mar 2, 2010 | DR-1880-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| Feb 25, 2010 | DR-1877-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm |
| Aug 13, 2009 | DR-1854-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storm |
| May 27, 2008 | DR-1763-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| Jan 4, 2008 | DR-1737-IA | DR | Severe Ice Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| Sep 14, 2007 | DR-1727-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| May 25, 2007 | DR-1705-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes |
| Mar 30, 2007 | EM-3275-IA | EM | Snowstorm | Snow |
| Mar 14, 2007 | DR-1688-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storms |
| Sep 10, 2005 | EM-3239-IA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| May 25, 2004 | DR-1518-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| Jun 19, 2002 | DR-1420-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| May 2, 2001 | DR-1367-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding |
Individual Assistance to households
FEMA Individual Assistance to households across Iowa, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved figures are those FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Self-reported, drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, and present only where Individual Assistance was designated.
| Assistance type | Approved amount |
|---|---|
| Repair and replacement | $205M |
| Rental assistance | $26M |
| Other needs | $81M |
Hazard mitigation funded
Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated across Iowa to reduce future disaster losses, by program. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) | 886 | $555M |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation (LPDM) | 6 | $11M |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) | 194 | $10M |
| Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) | 10 | $2M |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) | 40 | $1M |
Denied requests
FEMA turned down 8 declaration requests from Iowa since FY2000, a declaration-request denial rate of 14.8%. This is the President denying a governor or tribal leader's request for a declaration, tracked in a separate FEMA dataset from approved declarations, and is not the same thing as an individual being denied assistance under an approved declaration.
| Date | Type | Hazard |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2024 | Major Disaster | Winter Storm |
| Jun 20, 2023 | Major Disaster | Other |
| Jun 6, 2023 | Emergency | Other |
| Jun 17, 2015 | Major Disaster | Other |
| Jun 5, 2007 | Major Disaster | Severe Storm |
| Apr 19, 2006 | Major Disaster | Severe Storm |
| Nov 21, 2005 | Major Disaster | Tornado |
| Oct 4, 2004 | Major Disaster | Severe Storm |
How these numbers are built
Every figure is drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA datasets: the Disaster Declarations Summaries for declarations and the Declaration Denials dataset for turndowns, rebuilt automatically each week. A "declaration" is one unique combination of declaration type (DR / EM / FM), disaster number, and state, so a single disaster affecting five states counts as five declarations. Years are federal fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Totals, ranks, and rates on this page cover complete fiscal years only. Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in each state's declaration tables and its recent-declarations panel, but are not counted in any total until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.