Iowa newspaper denied flood-damage records

Although the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2007 that FEMA was required to release address-by-address information about hurricane assistance, city officials in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have denied a similar request for flood damage assessment data. They say the release of address-by-address data would violate U.S. privacy law.

Cedar Rapids city officials said address-by-address flood damage data is not public record, despite a federal appeals court ruling last year that said such data is public.

An assistant city attorney in Cedar Rapids said the city denied the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Freedom of Information request for release of address-by-address damage assessments, citing U.S. privacy law.

The Gazette asked Cedar Rapids City Hall to provide address-by-address information about damage assessments of the 850 homes in the city’s 100-year flood plain.

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