The Associated Press

DES MOINES -- The Rebuild Iowa Office reports that disaster recovery funds promised to Iowa for use in state, community, business and individual recovery programs for the 2008 floods and tornadoes now exceed $3.8 billion.

The office said Monday that more than $3 billion of those funds have been approved for use so far, and more than $1.1 billion has already been spent in Iowa.

Rebuild Iowa explains that many disaster assistance programs operate on a reimbursement basis. This method results in a gap between "spent" and "approved" funds. In addition, buyouts of disaster-impacted homes have just started to occur in Iowa. Once the buyout process is completed, the state will see another increase of funds in the "spent" column.