Iowans in the 56 counties declared disaster areas should look out for price gouging and other scams, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller warned in a consumer alert. The attorney general’s office also advises consumers to be wary of home-repair scams and shady cleanup and construction contractors who tend to solicit victims of natural disasters. Many of these contractors come from out of state, seek business door-to-door and ask for advance payment. “Taking advantage of flood victims in these declared counties is illegal and is something our office will pursue,” Miller said in a release. Price gouging is defined by administrative rule as raising prices unreasonably above the price at which the merchandise or service was sold in the usual course of business immediately prior to the onset of the emergency.