It’s been just over 10 years since the last time this happened.
Since the last time Iowa communities had to band together in a recovery effort of epic proportions.
Since the last time Involta employees were asked to go above and beyond their day jobs to help Iowa businesses rapidly recover from a Mother Nature destructive event.
Since the last time the state of Iowa was truly tested to be #IowaStrong.
What happened was calamitous, but the response Iowans showed was unyielding.
On Monday, August 10th, Iowans were devastated as a derecho storm tore through their communities, destroying everything in its path. The National Weather Service defines derecho as, “a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. Although a derecho can produce destruction similar to the strength of tornadoes, the damage typically is focused in one direction along a relatively straight swath.” Through all the ruination, family, friends, neighbors, strangers and coworkers have come together to salvage what’s left and fix what they can in an amazing #IowaStrong outpouring.
Bringing Businesses Back
The derecho took down power lines and damaged buildings, rendering 1,000+ as unsafe to occupy. As local businesses scrambled to execute their disaster recovery plans if they had them, others were trying to find their way through the darkness. Many of them, whether they were clients or not, turned to Involta for help. Our Cedar Rapids and Marion employees worked tirelessly to stabilize businesses work environments from the physical to the virtual. Involtans from our Duluth, Minnesota and Youngstown, Ohio offices came into town to support and aid the work of our headquarters’ employees. They brought basic, but much needed, supplies like cases of water and power strips as well as things like generators because no one knew when power would be restored.
Building Community Morale
Over the past few weeks, Involtans have also taken part in helping our entire community. Employees have volunteered at places like the Iowa Derecho Relief Center in Cedar Rapids where they provided both physical and emotional support. As volunteers, they worked to unpack and sort donations. They also spent time in various neighborhoods surveying needs, listening to personal stories and directing people to the right places so they can get the help they needed.
Admiring Personal Actions
During this trying time, Involta couldn’t be more proud of its employees. As they came together to help community businesses and neighbors, they also organized themselves so that they could help each other. Through various forms of technology, our employees were able to quickly communicate with each other to check in on needs, share information and help individual with clean up and repair efforts. Together, they truly exemplified “People Who Deliver and are working to make #IowaStrong again.”
Iowa will be experiencing effects from the derecho storm into the foreseeable future. Here’s what you can do to help:
Iowa Derecho Storm Resource Page
We want to thank all of our exceptional employees for providing support to one another and the entire community.
We are Iowa Strong.
