LERT Derecho Update

· by · in

From Ellie Menz, Iowa District West IOWAY Director

Hi,

What a crazy year!!  What a crazy storm in Iowa!! 

THANK YOU to all who have been helping your family, neighbors and strangers with clean-up projects!!

First, I will share what the Iowa District West LERT teams have been doing and then, what I learned from Lutheran Disaster leaders in the Cedar Rapids area.

  1. Last week, the Boone Circuit LERT trailer was relocated to Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Moines. Angela Weiss headed a team of volunteers who worked for two days to clean up debris in Des Moines.  One day with five volunteers and the next day with seven.
  2. On Monday, our LERT team of 25 and on Wednesday, another team of 18 worked at two different farm homes in the Woodward area. These great teams included volunteers from nine IDW Lutheran Churches.  There was a buzz of activities as the group worked to cut up and to move a mountain of logs and branches.  At the end of the day, there were friendships made, huge piles of debris moved and many sore muscles. We left feeling good about being able to help and the homeowners were overjoyed that people would come to work all day just to help a stranger.
  3. This Friday, Pastor Roger Carlisle, the Sac County Circuit LERT trailer and volunteers will be going to work in the Marshalltown area.

In visiting with the Disaster Response Coordinators in Iowa District East, following is the current situation as of today, however, with disaster relief, things change often.

  1. Camp Iodiseca is the ‘command center’ to identify needs and to organize workers to go to the sites. This weekend, there is a team of 80 who will be working at different sites.  The camp is offering meals and lodging.  They are not able to handle any more volunteers until next week after assessing what was completed this weekend.  They are also limited to the number of volunteers because of Covid restrictions.
  2. You may have heard of the churches and schools in IDE that were damaged.  I am told that at this point, they are not accepting volunteers until the insurance adjusters make their decisions.
  3. If you are interested in making a monetary donation, the following information is from IDE:

If you wish to make a financial contribution, please consider one of three ways:  

First, you can donate to the Iowa District East (via check, memo: IDE Storm Relief)

in support of meeting insurance deductibles for congregations and schools.

Iowa District East LCMS

1100 Blairs Ferry Road. Marion, IA 52302

319-373-2112

Second, you can directly support the storm relief effort program at Camp Io-Dis-E-Ca so that volunteers have adequate food, supplies, and equipment.

Camp Io-Dis-E-Ca

3271 Sandy Beach Rd NE, Solon, IA 52333

319-848-4187

Thirdly, you can donate to LCMS Disaster Response who has arranged volunteers and essential equipment. 888-930-4438

 

  1. I will continue to be in contact with IDE and will share the needs as they are identified. Please contact me if you have any questions.  Also, contact me if you are interested in helping, if you need help or if you  know of anyone who needs help.

 

God’s Blessings,

Ellie Menz 515-370-1159