Cedar Rapids Today

The City of Cedar Rapids said the Aug. 10 derecho has caused $60 million to $80 million worth of damage to the city. 

“Right now the [cost] range continues to grow,” Finance Director Casey Drew told the Cedar Rapids City Council’s Finance and Administrative Services Committee, Little Village reported. “This is just the cost to pick up what’s been damaged or fix what’s already out there."

Among Iowa cities, Cedar Rapids was one of the hardest hit, with schools, businesses and homes being damaged and destroyed. 

Facilities, such as Kernels Stadium and parking structures, have endured a total of $12 million to $16 million worth of damage.

But the good news is that the city's property insurance will cover most of the replacements for the damage brought by the derecho. FEMA will pay for 75% of the damage. The state will pay for 10%, leaving the city the pay 15% of the damage. 

“If we feel we have potentially $60 million of eligible FEMA costs, the bare minimum that the city is gonna have to contribute to that is $9 million,” Drew told the Little Village. “Now, it could be more if we get into stuff where we have a dispute about what’s eligible or not, but the very minimum is, if people have picked up $60 million of cost, we’re gonna be on the hook for $9 million.”