(Radio Iowa) – State officials estimate 2000 homes were damaged or destroyed during recent flooding in northwest Iowa. After previous flooding in Cherokee, FEMA bought out 40 properties. Another 70 homes in Cherokee were destroyed in this year’s flooding and Cherokee Mayor Craig Schmidt said he doesn’t know where people will go.

“They’re not staying if they can’t find another place to live if their home is devastated,” he said. “The reality of it is, and it’s not comforting, but all the other towns around us are saying the same thing: ‘No workers and no housing.’ So, what do you do?”

Governor Kim Reynolds and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell surveyed flood damage in Cherokee, Spencer and Rock Valley last week. Reynolds said the state needs to figure out how to combine state and local resources and get new homes built as quickly as possible. The governor told reporters she and her staff are trying to come up with some type of transitional housing plan as well as incentives for developers that build homes and apartments.