Grassley says federal support for Iowans ‘needs to get here right away’

Once Gov. Kim Reynolds submits her request on Monday for a federal disaster declaration in Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley told Newton News he and Sen. Joni Ernst are going to ask the president “to get that done right away” so that derecho survivors can access crucial support programs.

“That stuff needs to get in here right away,” Grassley said Friday in Newton.

Issuing a federal disaster declaration would allow Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs to “kick in,” the senator added. Local officials have been pushing citizens to submit damage reports to FEMA ever since the derecho hit the state Aug. 10.

The storm caused widespread damages to properties and crops, left hundreds of thousands without power and killed at least three people in Iowa and one person Indiana. Several neighborhoods in Jasper County were blocked by trees, riddled with debris and left without power for several days.

Reynolds has already issued several state disaster proclamations in response to the damages caused by the derecho, whose wind speeds were recorded between 71-106 mph, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). As of Friday, Aug. 14, Reynolds provided disaster proclamations for 27 counties: Audubon, Benton, Boone, Cass, Cedar, Clarke, Clinton, Dallas, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hardin, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Madison, Marshall, Muscatine, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Story, Tama and Washington counties have been declared a disaster. Others proclamation may be issued.

After a brief visit to Graphic Packaging International in Newton, Grassley told Newton News he saw a lot of corn damage on his way from Knoxville and in areas west of Des Moines. The longtime politician and president pro tempore of the United States Senate also saw damages in New Providence and Boone.

“Cornfields just flat,” Grassley said, noting the derecho was “worse” than a tornado. “Because a tornado will hit around a small area as it touches down. This is from the Missouri to the Mississippi River. I don’t know how wide, but it’s across the state.”

By comparison, the wind speeds of the Aug. 10 derecho “is equivalent to that of an EF1 tornado but over a vastly larger area than a tornado would impact,” the NWS said. Grassley said the last time he had “seen something like this” was in a few counties — namely Tama and Benton — roughly 10 years ago.

“But it wasn’t on the ground that long, and it may have been just a little bit more than Tama,” Grassley said. “But (it was) not all across the state like it is this time.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com