Amateur Radio repeaters are often utilized for emergency and disaster preparedness.

Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) is an umbrella organization involved in emergency preparedness.  The Iowa ARES organization maintains this website.

The National Weather Service utilizes ham radio as part of its severe weather spotting network, which is called “SkyWarn”. Iowa is served by several National Weather Service Forecast Offices. Here is a list of those offices and their amateur club callsigns, as well as a link to their Skywarn / Ham Radio Pages:

Des Moines K0DMX

Homepage
Spotter Page, includes amateur radio repeater lists.
Mid-Iowa Skywarn

Quad Cities (Davenport) WX1NWS

Homepage
Ham Radio Page

La Crosse WX9ARX

Homepage
Skywarn Ham Radio Page

Omaha

Homepage
Skywarn Ham Radio Page

Sioux Falls

Homepage
Spotter Information Page