‘Iowans put in the work needed to get a job done’

“It’s good to live in Iowa...Iowans put in the work needed to get a job done,” said Andrew Olesen, the Cedar Rapids Assistant Fire Chief of Operations, who is originally from Greenfield.

Andrew is the son of Willard and Susie, who now have his children and wife at their house here while he helps his city pick up the pieces from last week’s devastating derecho.

While the damage swath of the derecho was large, it has largely seemed like Cedar Rapids has been ground zero. For 21 years, Olesen has been employed by that city.

I wanted to reach out to Olesen because I felt there was probably no one better to give a firsthand look into how bad this storm really was and what is helping in the relief effort.

Not to my surprise, it’s the grassroots efforts of those with chainsaws helping their neighbors that is doing a lot of good.

Olesen told me that large portions of Cedar Rapids were still without power a week after the storm. Trees were downed which crippled the city’s emergency response routes for a time. People are in shelters or are staying with friends, doing anything they can to get by.

“There are significant challenges, certainly. But that being said, I think there’s been a remarkable willingness to address and solve problems,” Olesen said, describing that roads are opening, power crews are helping get the lights back on, people are being fed and resources are being distributed to those who need it. Farmers REC just had a couple of crews return from helping another REC in eastern Iowa. Another crew left Monday, this time for Perry.

Back in Cedar Rapids, Olesen said everyone who has a role in emergency response are putting in long hours until things are back to a reasonable level of normalcy. Again, he said it’s just the job that needs done.

Olesen said that in the immediate aftermath of the storm, there were about 500 calls for service to the CRFD, where typically they respond to about 40 to 45 a day. Since then, the average has dropped to about 125 calls per day.

“I know that we’ve had seven or eight significant building fires since last Monday and literally hundreds of other small fire instances and medical incidents with a lot of injuries associated with running chainsaws or not having power,” Olesen said.

Olesen said Cedar Rapids has dealt with disasters he’s worked on before, like floods in 2008 or 2016, but this time, there’s not an area of the city that isn’t affected.

“But everyday there really are amazing things happening: the roads get better, the debris haulers have been in getting the trees off, the power keeps coming on, there are lots of volunteers coming in and feeding people who need it,” Olesen said. “Having done this for awhile, the thing about disasters is the kindness and generosity of the people who have been affected.”

Olesen suggested to me that those from other areas of Iowa who would like to monetarily support the derecho relief effort could go through organizations like the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) or United Way of East Central Iowa.

But we have plenty of damage closer to home as well, mainly in our ag sector. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig’s office said over 14 million acres of crops have been damaged. I talked with my friend and area farmer Cameron Hamer the other day. He was on the way back from a wheat harvest trip and said it was “sickening” to drive through the Bayard area in Guthrie County and observe corn fields that are “as flat as can be.”

Lawmakers galore are responding to the damage. Congresswoman Cindy Axne was touring a farm near Altoona this Monday. Senator Joni Ernst went on Fox News to discuss with them the derecho damage. President Trump approved Governor Kim Reynolds’ Major Disaster Declaration Request Monday, which we hope means aid is on the way. Disaster declarations have been made for several counties on the state level.

This is all good and needed, but I’d say it’s good to live in Iowa where we tend to do what’s needed to fix a problem.

Sad days

My wife and I went to breakfast Saturday in honor of Gene Thomas, after hearing of his death. We thought that would be the best way to honor his memory. What a great small town man. Very kind, welcoming, and a wealth of local history, especially for the Zion, Union Township and Orient areas. I had a cup of coffee with Gene on more than one occasion and it was always memorable. Thoughts and prayers to all who loved and knew Gene.

I also received news shortly after hearing about Gene that an old friend of mine took his own life. He was one of those guys who always seemed to be happy, and at one time, he had been a pastor. Also, a co-worker I had at the Atlantic News Telegraph, and a friend close to my family as well, lost her battle with cancer this weekend.

All this to say it was kind of a sad weekend. Hug your loved ones. We are in tough times right now. We need each other dearly.

Have a great week.