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As residents continue to clean up in the aftermath of Monday’s storm, thousands are still waiting for the lights to come on.
Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation Tuesday, Aug. 11 for Jasper and 19 other counties as a result of a derecho storm Monday that spanned multiple areas of the state and caused widespread damage.
The proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather. The proclamation also activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program for Benton, Boone, Cedar, Clarke, Clinton, Dallas, Greene, Hardin, Iowa, Jasper, Johnson, Linn, Marshall, Muscatine, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Story, Tama and Washington counties. Reynolds expanded the proclamation Wednesday to include Jackson, Jones, and Grundy counties.
According to the Alliant Energy outage map, there were more than 170,000 customers in Newton still without power at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“We are still gathering data and making assessments. We don’t want to put out an estimated restoration time yet. We want to be sure we don’t deliver an estimated time that we cannot achieve,” a spokesman for Alliant Energy told the Newton News. “We know people are anxious to have their power back on ... We hope we will be able to begin delivering time estimates once all the damages data has been received.”
The City of Newton has created a webpage to keep residents updated on the storm response, newtongov.org/auguststormupdates.
According to the website, any resident who has sustained damage to their house or structures can submit their information to
to assist with FEMA reporting.
The City of Newton will help assist with tree debris cleanup. Residents can place their tree debris on the curb and the city’s public works department will pick it up at no cost to the resident. The earliest pick up can begin is next week. Debris must be cut to 6 feet in length or less and stack on the curb parallel to the street.
The Newton Sanitary Landfill is open on generator power as of 10:15 a.m. Aug. 11. They are accepting loads of tree debris, cash only. City of Newton residents will not be charged for uploading tree debris. Anyone bringing items to the landfill are asked to have their photo ID.
To receive assistance from the state, the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $43,440 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the
[ Iowa Department of Human Services website ]
. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.
Disaster Case Management is a program to address serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury or adverse condition. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor's proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit
[ www.iowacommunityaction.org ]
.
Contact Pam Pratt at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or