UNION COLLEGE
Union Students Help Iowa Town Recover from Derecho Abby Finkenauer, the member of Congress who represents the Cedar Rapids area, as reported by USA Today. The team took extra prePhotos Courtesy Union College cautions to protect against team of Union College come help with the cleanup COVID-19 transmission. international rescue and through a connection with According to Kalie Saunders, relief students and faculty Gideon Rescue, a relief orga- ineternational rescue and spent a week in mid-August nization started by Union relief program director, IRR helping the residents of IRR graduate Brock Mayer. students already undergo Belle Plaine after an unusual The two teams worked along- extensive safety training for windstorm caused extensive side each other throughout working in emergency situadamage in the small eastern the week. tions and used the appropriIowa town. The 23 students, two ate protective equipment and The derecho started in faculty and one graduate practices to protect themNebraska and packed 100 helped residents reclaim their selves throughout the trip. mph winds as it swept across devastated town—part of a Additionally, each student Iowa, and impacted several much larger cleanup effort received a COVID-19 test other states in early August. across Eastern Iowa from upon returning to campus to The wind left the little a storm that state and local ensure they did not contract town of Belle Plaine, located officials say is the worst in the the virus on their trip. roughly halfway between area’s history. Union’s IRR program is Marshalltown and Cedar “This is a disaster that we a unique bachelor’s degree Rapids, with extensive damhave never seen before. It is designed to prepare students age and no power. The mayor something that was essenfor careers in public safety, declared a state of emergency tially like a hurricane coming emergency management and and over the weekend asked through the Midwest without community development. Union’s IRR program to advance notice,” said U.S. Rep. In addition to earning an
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emergency medical technician and several FEMA certifications, students spend five weeks in Colorado training in wilderness survival and rescue, and a whole semester in a developing nation studying global medicine and running health clinics in underserved areas. The program regularly responds to disasters in the U.S. and around the world— including the 2019 Nebraska flooding, Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Typhoon Adai in Malawi and many more. Ryan Teller is executive director of Integrated Marketing Communications for Union College.
Read more about this trip or support this and future disaster relief efforts at ucollege.edu/ irr-belle-plaine.
Following are some photos and stories from Belle Plaine as told by Kalie Saunders, IRR program director.
Mr. Charles, a farmer in his 80s, lost four of his five outbuildings. Upon our arrival, he was unsure of our motives, and as we worked he kept asking how much we were going to charge him. Price gouging is a common occurrence after disasters and some residents of Belle Plaine told us they were quoted upwards of $20,000 to have trees removed. However, after lots of reassurance, hard work, and swapping stories, he understood we just wanted to help. We could tell he was re-energized by our fast and hard-working group of responders and soon he was working alongside us as we cleared debris. Ryan Haakenson, IRR senior and fellow Iowan, asked Mr. Charles how he was feeling at the end of our workday. Mr. Charles replied by expressing his relief and saying, “I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s finally starting to feel like home again.”
