(Spencer)– It’s been nearly two years now since historic flooding ravaged Spencer. A group that was formed immediately following the 2024 disaster to help residents of the city recover still remains very active. Megan Hanges of the Long Term Recovery Group, or LTRG, gave an update at Monday evening’s Spencer City Council meeting. She says they are still accepting requests for assistance from disaster victims…
“There’s a lot of people out there in the community, they had money, they had resources, and they have exhausted those. So they’ve replaced some of the things they need and people are just done. You know we are almost two years out, so they just need a little help to get to the finish line. We have closed over 350 cases with the LTRG, and that sounds like a big number but to be transparent some of those cases are simply a referral to mental health or another organization in the community. Some were mattresses that we received through donations from some of our partners; some were just carpet; some were just things out of our warehouse, but there’s a significant number of those that have been repair work.”
Hanges says numerous organizations remain in Spencer providing assistance. She says to date, they have provided 12,000 volunteer hours, amounting to $433,000 of labor.
Hanges says some mennonite groups will be coming to Spencer in coming weeks…
“And they are bringing, some are youth, in. So 12 weeks of Mennonites will be in our community doing repair work. We’re looking at 25 to 40 repairs while they’re here. They’ll also be building a house from the ground up, so that’s really exciting. We’ve had several business partners who have assisted in the funding of that. We’ve partnered with Faster Horses, we’ll be taking some pictures with Eli later this week as we get set to build that house.”
Hanges says the LTRG also continues to assist with funding from national organizations for unmet needs among flood victims. She says the eligibility guidelines are based on income, vulnerabilities and other criteria and that the funds can be used for things such as HVAC, materials, electrical and plumbing…
“About $89,000 has come in from national organizations to fund those cases. So whether that’s HVAC or materials or electrical or plumbing or whatever it is that they need, those have been funded. $43,000 has come directly from LTRG into homes in the community.”
Hanges adds the Long Term Recovery Group has also been awarded a grant to assist with marketing. She says they’re also working Clay County Emergency Management and the Iowa Disaster Human Resource Council on a disaster mitigation program.
