Charles City Rotary Club collecting supply donations for derecho storm victims

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Rotary Club is collecting a trailer full of supplies for victims of last week’s derecho storm in the Cedar Rapids area.

The group decided at its weekly meeting Monday to make a trailer available for people in the community as well as club members to donate needed items for victims of the storm.

The trailer will be located in the city parking lot in front of Hy-Vee, along Clark Street across the street from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. It will be available to drop off donations from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Club member Chris Garden is providing the trailer and a pickup to pull it and will transport the donations to Cedar Rapids on Friday, coordinating with the Linn County Rotary Club.

Michelle Bell, a member of that club and a past Rotary district governor, sent a message to district clubs over the weekend asking for help.

Bell said needed items include water for drinking, chain saw oil, two-cycle oil, chains for chain saws, diapers, baby wipes, formula, peanut butter and any other shelf-stable foods.

Also needed are tarps, coolers, flashlights, extension cords, toiletries, large trash bags, paper towels, batteries and feminine products.

A derecho with hurricane-force wind gusts exceeding 100 mph destroyed or extensively damaged 8,200 homes and 13 million acres of corn, about a third of the state’s crop land, last Monday, Aug. 10, the Associated Press reported.

More than a half million people were without electricity in the immediate aftermath of the storm. As of Monday morning, utility companies reported about 64,000 people remained without power.

The storm left at least three people dead in the state.