Assessment Survey Gives Agencies Snapshot of Recovery Needs

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

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By Dave Franzman

Story Created: Nov 13, 2008 at 5:19 PM CST

Story Updated: Nov 13, 2008 at 6:15 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS- Those agencies helping devastated homeowners get back on their feet in Linn County now have a better snapshot of those who lost homes to flooding.

The Linn Area Long Term Recovery Coalition started surveying households in the flood zones in mid August. And it's no surprise that nearly half need more financial help than they got from government or insurance to fully recovery.

David Bain, who owns a home on Ellis Blvd. N.W. is only of the nearly 1,300 people who filled out the assessment forms. He thinks he has enough financial resources, including FEMA payments, to rebuild his home without more help.

But he literally fell into one big category that showed up on the survey. Nearly 22 percent of those responding described themselves as disabled or having serious medical issues. Bain suffered a severe leg injury falling through a weak spot in his floor. That set his repair effort back by 10 weeks.

"It was a surprise I didn't see that coming--you know people are going to get hurt during a flood," he said.

The survey Bain and the others took will be used to target community recovery resources from the 70 agencies that make up the Linn Area Long Term Recovery Coalition.

By far, the greatest number of people were in the category of those needing additional financial help. That figure was 48%.

But 22% also reported either a permanent or temporary job loss due to the flood. And more than one third also said they needed help with either the labor to rebuild or the cost of materials.

Leslie Wright, the chairperson of the recovery coalition, said nothing surprising turned up in the survey figures. "I think we really expected to see this. At the time, during early phases of looking at the data, I think we were surprised some of the numbers weren't higher," she said.

Long term recovery organizers were waiting for the final numbers to plan the response. But there was one big exception. Thirty percent of those surveyed reported serious issues with stress or mental problems. Those people were immediately referred to counselors.

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