Spencer, Iowa (RI) — Well over 450 Spencer residents have downloaded a new smart phone app designed to provide a variety of information, including weather alerts.
Spencer City Manager Kevin Robinson says it’s part of the ongoing response to the historic flooding that hit Spencer in mid-2024.
Spencer sits at the convergence of the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan Rivers. The smart phone app uses data from the Flood Center of Iowa and provides notifications when river levels rise.
That data is also used for a new three-tiered flood warning system Spencer has developed, also shown on the app.
Spencer hired retired Clive Fire Chief Rick Rowe to assess how the city handled the flooding and plan for how to handle future disasters. Rowe concluded the public wanted simple to understand warnings and he helped guide development of the app.
Robinson says push notifications are built into the app.
The app is free to download in the Apple Store or Google Play Store. The city pays a small per download fee to the developer and Robinson predicts the company will start offering to build similar apps for other cities in the next few months.
KIWA Staff Photo
