North DSM News

Iowa continues to struggle from the derecho aftermath that damaged farmlands across the state last Monday, with 100 mile per hour winds, and cut power for over 98,000 residents. 

"The devastation is widespread. It's intense. Block after block of houses, every one with some amount of damage. Trees piled six to 10 feet high along the road. It's like walking through a tunnel of green with some fluorescent orange of placard houses that are unsafe to enter," Tyler Olson, a city council member from Cedar Rapids, told NPR. "The city itself has been working hard to get roads cleared, so that has taken place in many parts of the city. But we're still without power. The majority of our citizens are without power."

Aaron Lahman, a soybean and corn farmer, said it is the most damage he has seen. 

"It's by far the most extensive and widespread damage that we've seen on this farm," Lehman told NPR. "Unlike a tornado, which is a mile wide, this stretched for a width of really intense damage — of approximately 40 miles, probably closer to 60-70 miles wide."

The National Guard is working on restoring electricity to the thousands of households still without it, but many residents still don't have food or medicine. 

"We need electricity," Olson told NPR. "The [Iowa] National Guard arrived a couple of days ago to assist with utility with power back on, but we have citizens without food, without medicine. And we're working as hard as we can as a city to meet those needs but we really need the federal government and their resources."

Gov. Kim Reynolds is working on a disaster declaration, but it takes time to submit an application. 

"We're moving forward, we're coordinating efforts, we're working with the local emergency managers and working with city officials and the mayor," Reynolds told NPR. "They're on the ground. They need to let us know how we can supplement and help them with the work that they're doing and that's how we can efficiently and effectively serve citizens."