Midwest Flooding Activates Large Scale Response
The latest round of flooding in the Midwest has caused thousands of people to have to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere,
In addition to the work Convoy of Hope is doing in Indiana in response to recent flooding, the state of Iowa is now undergoing tremendous upheaval. For starters, there are communities in at least 10 Iowa counties operating under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, including the cities of Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville, Anamosa, Rochester, Cedar Falls, Waterloo and Des Moines. You can help!
Emergency shelters are operating in at least 12 Iowa locations, including Viola Gibson Elementary School and Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Iowa City, the Lawrence Community Center in Anamosa, the Iowa Braille and Sight-Saving School in Vinton, the Toledo Community Building, Wartburg College in Waverly and the UNI West Gym in Cedar Falls.
All but 16 of Iowa’s 99 counties have been declared state disaster areas – which takes in virtually all of the state’s eastern side—and assessment teams are surveying damages to determine how many will be designated as federal emergency disaster zones. Already four eastern Iowa counties have such designations from last month’s tornadoes and state officials are using that window to draw down federal help in places where record or near-record flooding are wreaking havoc in Iowa today.
Water and power concerns at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids caused officials to close the facility last night and patients are being evacuated to hospitals throughout eastern and central Iowa, officials say, and more than 40,000 Iowa electric customers were without service as of 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
In response to this, Convoy of Hope has dispatched assessment teams and tractor trailers full of relief supplies to some of the worst hit areas of the state. Already, 80,000 pounds of desperately needed supplies have made their way to Iowa and are in the process of being distributed by local volunteers to families in desperate need. More supplies are being staged for quick delivery. Our staff is on the ground in Iowa and Indiana coordinating volunteer teams in responding to neighborhoods and families that have been affected by this flooding.
The need is great! Will you help Convoy of Hope reach out to the victims of this massive flooding across the Midwest? Your secure online donation will help thousands of families across our nations midsection, as they struggle back from the effects of these recent storms.
God bless you as you help!