Anyone who's driven into Rock Valley from the north over the last two years has seen the empty, damaged houses. On Thursday, Oct. 8, the first one finally came down.
Rock Valley began demolishing the first home in its flood buyout program that day, a big step in the town's recovery from the June 2024 flood, Sioux County Radio reported.
Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo had the wait down to the day. "839 days we've been waiting for this day," he said.
Van Otterloo said the buyouts let homeowners get their money and move on with their lives, while demolition removes the damaged houses that have been a visible reminder of the disaster.
How the buyout works
The program is funded by FEMA. In July, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shared FEMA's announcement that it had obligated more than $22 million through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to buy flood-damaged homes in Rock Valley. Along with funding from FEMA's Public Assistance program, the grants will pay for the acquisition and demolition of 123 residential properties.
The flooding led to a Major Presidential Disaster Declaration, and hundreds of homes were deemed uninhabitable. To prevent future flood damage, the city will buy the properties, demolish the houses and use the land as open space.
"This is great news for the community of Rock Valley and the families that were affected by the 2024 flooding," FEMA Region 7 Acting Administrator Jay Van Der Werff said at the time.
Sioux County Radio reported the overall buyout effort was previously estimated at about $36 million, including property purchases, demolition and conversion to green space.
What's slowing it down
Van Otterloo said the order the homes come down depends on which ones are ready.
"Some of the houses here have SBA loans on them. And they have to be released, and have issues with SBA releasing them. So that's slowing us down," he said. "They all have been tested for asbestos and asbestos found in them. They have to abate that before we can move on, before we can tear them down. So that process is ongoing."
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters and businesses, and some are secured by real estate. The first homes coming down are those without SBA loan problems or asbestos that needs to be removed. Van Otterloo said asbestos abatement was expected to start the same week, which could let crews move on to more properties.
The city is buying about five to six properties a week when it can, he said, with attorneys updating titles and handling paperwork.
There's no firm date for finishing all the demolitions. Van Otterloo said it will depend on the weather and how fast the city gets reimbursed.
"Right now, the city of Rock Valley is putting all the money out to purchase these homes, and we get reimbursed, and they're hoping that it'll be that we'll get reimbursed within thirty days," he said. "But as you can imagine, that's a lot of a lot of cash that we don't have. So our banks have been real good with working with the city, but it's a slow, slow process. We're working our way through it."
For the mayor, the first demolition brought mixed feelings. "We're just very happy that we're proceeding. It's hard for the homeowners to watch their homes go down, but they know it's a step in the right direction. So we're moving forward," he said.
Why it matters for Contractors
With 123 properties in the buyout, Rock Valley has a long run of demolition, asbestos abatement, hauling and site restoration work ahead. Every home has to be tested for asbestos, and the mayor said asbestos was found in them, so licensed abatement contractors are a key part of the schedule. Once the homes are gone, the lots become open space, which means site cleanup once the houses are gone. Contractors should also know the city is paying up front and waiting on reimbursement, so the pace depends on cash flow, weather and SBA loan releases. The radio report and the state's announcement didn't name the demolition contractors, so interested firms should contact Rock Valley City Hall.