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Report: Iowa not well-prepared for severe weather

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ICF International, a policy analysis firm, and Climate Central, a group of independent journalists and scientists, have given Iowa a grade of C+ for its efforts to face increased risks from extreme heat, drought and inland flooding related to climate change.


In the “States At Risk” report, Iowa received a C for preparing for extreme heat, a C+ for getting ready for drought and a C for inland flooding threats. Since the 1980s, the average annual number of disasters costing more than $1 billion has nearly tripled, adjusted for inflation, from less than three to more than eight a year.


It costs more for an area to recover from damages than to prevent the damage in the first place, the groups claimed. Between 2011 and 2013, the federal government spent $136 billion — or almost $400 in taxes from each American household each year — on disaster relief, the equivalent of $400 a year in taxes for each American household, the groups reported.

Elderly Iowans are at high risk in extreme, the most common threat in the lower 48 state, the groups said.


The report’s key findings in Iowa include:  
  • More than 150,000 Iowans live in flood-prone areas.
  • By 2050, the number of heat wave days in Iowa is expected to rise from 10 to more than 60 days per year.
  • In the same period, summer drought in Iowa will become 70 percent more intense.