(Radio Iowa) – Stoplights in Spencer are back in action, but power is still out in many neighborhoods following flash flooding that hit the city ten days ago. Spencer Mayor Steve Bomgaars says initial estimates indicate 40 percent of homes in Spencer have flood damage. “Some of our friends on the southside of the town who are without electricity still,” he says, “and we even have some pockets on the north side of town that don’t have electricity.” FEMA representatives went door-to-door in southeast Spencer on Saturday. Bomgaars says the latest tally shows nearly 15-hundred Spencer residents have applied in person or online for some form of federal assistance.

Iowa Department of Transportation dump trucks started hauling debris out of Spencer this weekend. Kevin Robinson, the deputy city manager in Spencer, says the first D-O-T crews who rolled into Spencer on Saturday collected 152 loads of debris — including 350 appliances from the north central area of Spencer. “Their run time is going to be from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.,” Robinson says. “They work straight through. They don’t take breaks. They eat their meals in transit.”

Some Clay County residents who live outside of Spencer have brought their flood damaged debris into Spencer for disposal, but Clay County officials say residents in rural areas can also arrange for crews to pick-up flood debris at their homes.