Crop damage in Iowa from the derecho on August 10 – photo courtesy Crystal Blin
Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last week, you’ve likely heard about the Iowa derecho. A derecho (pronounced du-ray-cho) is a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds. Reports from Iowa say that the winds reached 100 mph and has knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of households. Today, a week later, in 57 counties in the path of the storm, nearly 100,000 households are still without power. Many Iowans are without basic resources, grocery stores shelves are empty and food pantries are in dire need of donations. According to the Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, the projected financial impact to the State of Iowa is nearly $4 billion, most of which is attributed to agriculture. Earlier this morning (Monday, August 17), President Trump approved the federal disaster aid request for Iowa, although the AP reports only $45 million of the $4 billion was approved and that money is designated for debris removal and repair to government buildings and utilities.
From a farming standpoint, nearly 14 million acres of corn and soybeans have been damaged or lost in the field, according to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. For some perspective, last year my home state of Kansas planted 6 million acres of corn and 4.5 million acres of soybeans. Let that sink in – more than the entire corn and soybean yield for Kansas was lost in one day to the Iowa derecho storm. This doesn’t take into account the millions of bushels of grain that were lost from silos being destroyed. Iowans have a very rough road ahead of them and need our donations, time and prayers.
I’ve had several people message me asking how they can help and instead of starting a GoFundMe, I’ve rounded up a whole list of organizations that have great initiatives underway. I will continue to update this list as I become aware of more donation hubs – if I am missing some, please send them my way in the comments! I hope that we can all give a little – whether it be time, dollars or prayer – to help our fellow people in Iowa.
Iowa derecho damage to a farm – photo by Crystal Blin
Iowa Derecho Storm Resource Page
Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation Disaster Recovery Fund
Salvation Army Derecho Storm & Tornado Disaster Response
United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties
Damage to home in Midway township from the Aug. 10 Iowa derecho. Photo credit Elizabeth Burns-Thompson
Iowa Strong Fundraiser by Crystal Blin
Ginger Hill Farmer Farmers Feed America Fundraiser
Hawkeye Area Community Action Program Food Pantry
Venmo to Willie Ray’s Q Shack – @WillieRaysQShack – distributing free meals
Farmers & Friends Helping Others
Until next time
~ Buzzard ~
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