FEMA does not have any price gouging rules.  All those rules are state law.  The State of Iowa adopted rules against price gouging as a result of the 1993 floods and if gouging occurred in Iowa there is some protection as it is an unfair practice under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.  Neither South Dakota or Nebraska has such protection.  If there is fraud, protection is available in all three states.

A lawsuit against the Corps would most likely fail on sovereign immunity grounds.  Under the Flood Control Act, the United States is immune from liability for property damage and other torts that are related to flood projects.  Basically, the United States has immunity so long as the body of water is within the definition of “flood water” and there is a correlation between the flood project and the injury, which is not unrelated to the management of the flood project.  This means that, with respect to flood waters, decisions to build levees or not to build levees, to release water from dams, and so on, are protected from liability claims.

It depends.  Residency is largely a question of intention.  If you intend to return to South Dakota after the flood has abated and you are able to return to your home, it is most likely that you would be considered a nonresident of Iowa for income tax purposes and would only be taxed on your Iowa source income.

We have made a preliminary inquiry to the Iowa Department of Revenue on this topic.  It is likely that the Iowa Department of Revenue will come out with a more detailed response.  In the absence of additional factors that make it appear as though a person is changing their residence to the state of Iowa, the Department has indicated that it will consider people to be relocating to Iowa due to an emergency, and that they will remain nonresidents of Iowa for tax purposes.

However, if you decide to make Iowa your residence (which is determined by a number of factors, such as applying for homestead tax status in Iowa, enrolling your children in Iowa schools, changing voting and vehicle registration), you would be considered a part-year resident of Iowa.  In that instance, you would be taxed as an Iowa resident for the portion of the year that you resided in Iowa.

We have made an inquiry to Dakota Valley School District Officials on this issue.  They have confirmed with the South Dakota Department of Education that students who were enrolled at Dakota Valley prior to the flood incident will be considered as residents of the Dakota Valley School District regardless of their temporary housing situation and regardless of the state in which they are living.  School officials have indicated that the district will most likely not be able to provide transportation from Iowa or Nebraska.  However, current Dakota Valley students will be able to attend Dakota Valley schools again next school year

King, Reinsch, Prosser & Co., L.L.P., a Sioux City firm of certified public accountants, put out a recent news bulletin regarding Deductions for Casualty Losses.

The summary provides a good, technical explanation of the deduction which may be taken if you have suffered damage to your property due to the flood.

As always, the information on this page and in the news bulletin is intended to be generally informative in nature.  For more detailed advice about your particular situation, you should confer with a tax professional.

Typically, flood insurance policies have a 30 day waiting period before a new policy becomes effective.  Additionally, FEMA has determined that “the Garrison Dam water release occurring on June 1, 2011, triggered a flood in progress that extends to the Missouri River Basin below Garrison Dam, ND, and the system of coordinated dams through Gavins Point Dam, at Yankton, SD, and the basin beyond.  Based on the flood-in-progress exclusion at Section V(B), for coverage to be effective for losses caused by the flood resulting from the water release from Garrison Dam, ND, an SFIP [standard flood insurance policy] must have been in effect prior to June 1, 2011.”

This means that, in order to be certain that your house is covered, any new insurance policy needed to be issued by May 1, 2011.  FEMA does at least say that they might individually evaluate whether claims will be subject to this exclusion.  Thus, even if you purchased flood insurance after the May 1, 2011, you should still file a claim if you suffer damage due to the flood.

The 30 day waiting period is the product of the flood of 1993, where some homeowners were able to buy a policy right before their homes were damaged.  Congress decided to close the loophole, so that purchasers were not able to time the purchase of a policy until after a known flood event was occurring.
There are some exceptions to the 30 day waiting period.  Generally, the exception is if the flood insurance policy was required by a lender.  Accordingly, some homeowners may have acted on recommendations to refinance their homes or take out a home equity line of credit so that a flood insurance policy could be purchased without a 30 day waiting period.  If such a policy was purchased prior to June 1, 2011, then the flood-in-progress exclusion may not apply.