(Radio Iowa) – Even though the Council Bluffs area didn’t see as much widespread damage from flooding last month as other parts of western Iowa, the city’s top elected official says he’s concerned about future severe weather episodes — due to climate change. Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh points to record-breaking flooding and deadly tornadoes as signs climate change is real and too costly to ignore. “People justify what they want to justify,” Walsh says. “I think the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is saying that FEMA is running out of money and between fires and hurricanes and tornadoes and flooding, it’s pretty hard to deny evidence that’s right in front of your face.”

Federal officials say FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund could run out of money by mid-August without additional help from Congress. If that happened, the director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the Associated Press money would be taken from other programs to cover the most urgent needs. Mayor Walsh says a levee protected Council Bluffs from devastating flooding seen upstream, but some low-lying areas near the Missouri River were underwater, with about 50 homes impacted by groundwater. A storm late in June also caused substantial tree damage. Walsh blames climate change. “I think it’s time to do a little reality check and take some steps,” Walsh says. “I don’t know if it’s too late to correct it, but it’s certainly not too late to address it and try to slow it down.”

The Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area received a $1 million grant from the federal government to pay for climate change planning to reduce greenhouse gases. Walsh says his community has worked to help encourage solar energy development to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution.