Derecho Recovery

Derecho Recovery Resources

If You Need Assistance

211 General Assistance: Food, funding and shelter: Dial 2-1-1, text your zip code to 899211 or visit 211iowa.org
Food Pantries
Financial Help: Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program Note: Make sure you’re keeping your receipts from disaster expenses (& pictures) for possible future assistance from feds.
Mental Health: If you are struggling and need to talk with someone. Call 1-800-273-TALK.
Linn County Emergency Management Agency: Information on shelters, debris removal & what towns in Linn county are doing to respond to the storm needs.
Linn County Public Health: Information on burning, road closures, safety tips with generators and food.
Iowa Department of Human Services: Disaster assistance programs, such as food assistance replacement.
Red Cross - Serving Iowa: Can provide temporary lodging and meals. 1-800-RED-CROSS and press 0 to speak with a representative.
City of Cedar Rapids: Updated information and resources for those impacted by the derecho storm in the City of Cedar Rapids. (Sign up for text alerts.)
Iowa Derecho Storm Facebook Page: Over 18,000 citizens requesting and sharing recovery resources.

Power Updates

If You Want To Provide Assistance

Volunteer: If you are searching for opportunities to volunteer to help with storm cleanup needs. (Linn County: 224-406-1366 or United Way | Marion: 319-447-3581).

Donate:

Horizons Meals on Wheels for Linn County is coordinating meals for residents. Donate to Horizons Meals on Wheels for Linn County.
The city of Coralville’s Food Pantry is coordinating meals for residents. Donate to Coralville’s Food Pantry.
The United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties is coordinating disaster air.

Updates

8.28.20 | 9:09 AM

This alert was released by the City of Cedar Rapids. While the possible storm itself is not expected to be a threat, the area is still affected by the derecho storm, with loose debris and damage to power lines and buildings. Please be aware of storm updates, and minimize travel if necessary.

Be safe Kohawks!

FROM CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE DEPARTMENT

Here’s the latest updates from the US National Weather Service Quad Cities Iowa/Illinois with regards to timing of potential severe weather in the Cedar Rapids area this evening. Linn County Emergency Management Agency will activate the outdoor warning sirens if winds of 40 mph or greater occur because of tree debris and other loose branches from the August 10 storm.

We get severe thunderstorms multiple times throughout a normal spring and summer. Of course, this is different because it’s the first one predicted since the Derecho and many/most citizens are still cleaning up from that storm. It is normal to have increased anxiety.

Aug 28 weather update

August 28 weather update-2

Coe College Safety & Security
319.399.8888

8.17.20 | 9:15 AM

Dear Kohawks,
Our thoughts continue to be with our families and communities impacted by the recent storms. We know this may be a lot to take in and difficult to process. We want to remind you now, more than ever to be checking in with yourself and your mental health.

As we respond to the current public health concerns with COVID-19, Monday’s derecho has impacted every part of the city catastrophically and left our community and part of the midwest in disarray. Therefore, we want to help you care for your mental and emotional well-being as best as we are able.

Email is not a great source of communication right now, but below are some community resources for those who may benefit. If you have the ability to text, call, or physically reach your fellow Kohawks who may not yet have regained regular communication, please do so. And if you are aware of anyone in need, please reach out so we can help.

If you need to speak with someone immediately or this is an emergency...

If you are on campus, contact Campus Safety & Security at 319.399.8888 or visit their office in Upper Gage. Campus security will be in their offices the first 15 minutes of every hour.
If you are off campus, go to the emergency room or call 911. You also can call Foundation 2, Crisis Services at 319.362.2174 or 800.332.4224.

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE

211 General Assistance
Food, funding, and shelter Dial 2-1-1, text your zip code to 899211 or visit 211iowa.org

Food Pantries
https://www.foodpantries.org/st/iowa

Red Cross – Serving Iowa
Can provide temporary lodging and meals.1-800-RED-CROSS and press 0 to speak with a representative

City of Cedar Rapids
Updated information and resources for those impacted by the derecho storm in the City of Cedar Rapids.
Website
Sign Up for Text Alerts

Iowa Derecho Storm Facebook Page
Over 18,000 citizens requesting and sharing recovery resources.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/974094406389442/?fref=mentions

MENTAL HEALTH

If you are struggling and need to talk with someone. Call 1-800-273-TALK
TAO Connect is an online therapy assistance platform committed to reducing behavioral health disparities by bringing affordable, effective and accessible treatment. TAO is an online program that increases engagement and improves treatment outcomes for individuals with mental health concerns. This is a 24/7 service available FREE to all students, faculty and staff. When creating an account, you must use your Coe Gmail account for login. If you would like to learn more about TAO before creating an account, check out this video: www.taoconnect.org/what_is_tao/us/.

POWER UPDATES:

MidAmerican Energy – Outage Map
Alliant Energy – Outage Map
Association of Electric Cooperatives – Outage Map

IF YOU WANT TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE

Volunteer
If you are searching for opportunities to volunteer to help with storm clean up needs.
Linn County -224-406-1366 or United Way
Marion – 319-447-3581

While we don’t recommend online/self-help resources as an exchange for professional in-person meetings, we know accessing care may be even more difficult during this time. If you're looking for mental health advice that you can start acting on immediately, check out www.virusanxiety.com for some great resources and ideas to help you cope.

We want to recognize it is natural to experience different and strong emotions during this time. We also want to encourage you to check in with yourself and know when and how to seek support when needed.

We ask for your patience and flexibility during this time of uncharted territory and know that everyone is doing the best they can with the resources currently available. As more resources in our community begin to be restored, including our partnered mental health resources that provide free services to Coe students, we will communicate these changes to you. We will do our best to respond to your questions, requests for support and concerns in a timely manner. We hope that you will join us in spreading Kohawk Kindness with grace, patience and flexibility on campus and in our deeply devastated Cedar Rapids community.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Coe Wellness

8.16.20 | 5:18 PM

Students,

This is not quite the way we all thought Fall 2020 would begin, but Kohawks keep flying and so we will. While we will continue to deal with the lingering effects of the storm for a while, I write now with some updates on our Fall 2020 schedule.

First Years meet with Advisors Monday, August 24th: All first-year students will have an individual meeting with their advisor (their FYS instructor) on Monday, August 24th. These meetings are for you to get to know each other and to discuss your fall schedule.

Transfers:If you are a transfer student, watch for a message from Dr Meira Kensky, Director of Advising in your Coe email in the next two weeks. She will connect you via email with your advisor in your primary field of study. In the meantime, if you have advising related questions, reach out to her at mkensky@coe.edu.

Open Registration, Tuesday August 25th: All students can change their course schedules on Tuesday, August 25th. As always, before making any changes, check with your advisor.

The Fall 2020 Term will begin on Wednesday, August 26th: Starting a week late will allow the college faculty and staff time to do many of the things we needed to do this past week to get ready for classes. Starting a week late will also give us time to complete the COVID testing process for students, faculty and staff so we all stay safe.

End of the term and the Fall 2020 calendar: Since we have to start late, the end of the term is changing. The last day of classes for all Fall 2020 classes will now be December 1st. All in-person classes will switch to on-line instruction after November 20th. This means if you already have a plane ticket home, you can still use it. Classes for all courses will be on-line for November 23, 24, 30 and December 1. November 25th and 27th will be break days. Finals will now be Dec. 2-4. A full calendar of our revised Fall 2020 term will be up on My.Coe tomorrow.

This storm is not how I imagined this already unusual year starting, but it also reaffirmed how special Coe students are. Some of you started cleaning up before the wind stopped blowing. Others helped push strangers’ cars out of harm. Many of you spent days dragging brush. You helped each other and the rest of us as only Kohawks can. Now, it’s just about time to go to school. Let’s get Fall 2020 started!

Paula O'Loughlin
Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty

8.15.20 | 4:26 PM

Dear Coe community,

As shared earlier today, the IT team has been working diligently to restore Internet access to Coe’s campus. On Thursday, we were made aware by our internet service provider that Coe would likely not have restored internet service for over a week. We recognize the importance of technology to our students, staff and faculty. Therefore, we made the decision to reach out to a local provider, ImOn, to see if we could partner to expedite service to campus immediately. The Coe IT team and ImOn team worked late into the evening last night to make this transition. This morning the Coe IT team continued their efforts to finish this process and as of this afternoon, we are happy to say we have internet service to campus again.

Please note that a few areas of campus still do not have power and therefore will not have this service until power is restored. Otherwise, the rest of campus should have service. Because there was a change in our provider to ImOn, there is a rerouting process that takes place. So, if you are in an on-campus location with power and do not have service right now, you may need to restart devices, clear your cache or continue to try to access service throughout today and tomorrow.

As time goes on, the connection should become more reliable as will the ability to access My.Coe, www.coe.edu and VPN from off-campus locations. If you are still not able to connect to the internet by the end of the day tomorrow, please contact the Office of Information Technology by submitting a SchoolDude form which can be found at my.coe.edu. If you cannot access SchoolDude, please call or email IT Monday morning: 319.399.8877 or o-computer@coe.edu.

We are thankful that ImOn in Cedar Rapids understood our situation and quickly offered their partnership with Coe to assure service. I would also like to thank Coe's IT staff. They went above and beyond to make this happen so quickly after finding out the length of time our campus would have to wait for service. As are many of you, they have been impacted by this terrible storm. I thank them for taking care of Coe as they also work to restore their own homes and take care of their own families. This isn't the start to the school year any of us imagined, but it's still nice to be reminded of the kindness and helpfulness that exists within our Coe family.

Enjoy your weekend and internet, Kohawks!
Julie Staker
Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing & Institutional Effectiveness

8.15.20 | Noon

We are working diligently to restore internet access to Coe’s campus. Yesterday and last night we made some changes to our internet provider in order to expedite providing service to campus. We do not have full internet access on campus yet. You may be able to access My.Coe or www.coe.edu off campus on a limited basis but full service has not been restored yet. Although some individuals will experience this connection/access to these sites, many will still not experience any internet service at all. As this work progresses, the connection will become more reliable. We do not have a timeline for the completion of this process but will provide an update as soon as more information is available.

8.14.20 | 8:28 AM

Today we welcome volunteers to Coe for Charlie’s Campus Cleanup between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM. Volunteers will be moving tree limbs and picking up debris. Social distancing protocols must be followed. Face coverings are required.

Special thanks to our community partner Hy-Vee and its Healthy You Mobile truck, which will provide healthy food items and other refreshments. In addition, a lunch will be offered courtesy of Sodexo between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM for all volunteers. We are grateful to both of these partners for supporting this effort.

8.13.20 | 6:32 PM

Update: Power has been restored to additional locations on campus. We do not know when the entire campus will have power.

8.13.20 | 1:57 PM

Coe College extends its thoughts and well wishes to all in our region affected by the severe windstorm on Monday, August 10. Our hearts remain with all who now have to deal with this event on top of the health and economic challenges already impacting so many. Although the natural disaster makes the mountain a little steeper, we are inspired by the community’s response to help neighbors, family and friends dig out and clean up and by the many dedicated employees tirelessly working to restore power and utilities, provide necessary services and help put all of us back on the road to recovery.

As many of you know, Coe’s campus sustained substantial damage just as we were reopening for the fall term. Thankfully, none of our students, faculty or staff were injured by the event, and although the physical campus has been secured, we will delay the start of classes until power and other services are fully restored. This delay also gives us time to better clear trees and debris from campus.

Coe already has benefited from a number of volunteers, including students and sports teams, and has received a number of inquiries from alumni, students, faculty, staff and community members about how to help. We are appreciative of this assistance and thankful we have your support to help us open the college safely and as efficiently as possible. For those able to help, we are asking for volunteers tomorrow, Friday, August 14, anytime between 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM. The primary task will be to move tree limbs to the perimeter of the campus for removal and to pick up debris and trash.

What to bring and where to go:

Volunteers should park in the lots adjacent to the Clark Athletic Football Field between Mary Levy Way and 14th Street NE.
Check-in is required! Please proceed to the horseshoe driveway off College Drive between Voorhees Hall and Gage Union. We will ask for your name and contact information so that we can perform contact tracing if necessary. A volunteer coordinator will direct you to a Coe-supervised work team around campus.
Social distancing protocols must be followed. Face coverings are required.
Please wear appropriate clothing, and bring work gloves, eye and ear protection, water, food and sunscreen.
If willing, please bring yard equipment such as rakes, shop brooms, loppers, leaf blowers, tarps and other hand tools. Please put your name and address on your equipment.
Coe’s physical plant team has done most of the necessary tree cutting. Therefore, do not bring chainsaws.
If you have a pickup truck or large flatbed trailer that could be used, it would be particularly appreciated as we transport tree waste and other debris to the edge of campus.
If you are willing to provide and are skilled in operating large equipment such as Bobcats, tractors or loaders, particularly if equipped with a grapple, or a heavy flatbed truck, please contact Larry Lee at 814.573.4506 for additional coordination.
For additional questions or information, please contact David Hayes at 319.329.0499.

Special thanks to our community partner Hy-Vee and its Healthy You Mobile truck, which will provide healthy food items and other refreshments. In addition, a grilled lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs and other picnic snacks, including vegetarian options, will be offered courtesy of Sodexo Foods between 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM for all volunteers. We are grateful to both of these partners for supporting this effort.

Finally, campus communication systems are still limited. We ask for your patience as we respond to questions you might have as we organize this effort. Thank you for considering Coe at this time. Although daunting, together we all will overcome this challenge as a community that cares and protects one another. Today we all work together to build a brighter tomorrow.

8.13.20 | 7:20 AM

Coe College students, faculty and staff who do not yet have power are invited to Gage Memorial Union (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM) and Stewart Memorial Library (10:00 AM - 2:00 PM) again today to charge their phones. Power strips are available, but please bring your own charger. Masks and maintaining 6 feet of distance from others are required.

A message to the Coe community | Sent 8.12.20

As many of you know, on Monday, August 10, a severe storm with hurricane-strength winds came through campus. 100 mph winds knocked down trees and left damage across campus. As power continues to be re-established on campus, we are working diligently to repair and restore our physical and technological infrastructures. Not all campus locations have regained power and we do not know when the entire campus will have power. As well, we do not have internet access on campus and do not know when it will be restored.

Therefore, the start of classes will be delayed and will not begin on Wednesday, August 19. The start of classes will be announced when full power and internet access can be restored to all of campus.

Since many residential buildings do not have power and there is no internet access on campus, COVID-19 testing for faculty, staff and students will need to be rescheduled. It is our hope to do so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 18-20) of next week. This is contingent upon full power and internet access being restored to campus. We will provide additional guidance for rescheduling as soon as possible.

Given the many challenges, if you have the ability to do so, we would encourage you to delay moving in until next week. We understand some families are already on their way to campus to begin the move-in process on Thursday (Aug. 13), Friday (Aug. 14) and Saturday (Aug. 15) and cannot change their plans. Rest assured, we are here to get you settled in your room and dining services is fully operating. Residence Life staff will still be prepared for returning and incoming students to move in on Thursday (Aug. 13), Friday (Aug. 14) and Saturday (Aug. 15) (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) if needed.

We encourage new first-year students to delay your original move-in date to anytime Sunday (Aug. 16) through Tuesday (Aug. 18) (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) at your convenience. (Check in will be in your assigned residence hall.)

Returning students should plan to move in Sunday (Aug. 16) through Thursday (Aug. 20) (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) at their convenience. (Check in will be located in Upper Gage.)

As a reminder, Voorhees Hall, Greene Hall, Armstrong Hall, Douglas Hall, Murray Hall, Eby Fieldhouse, Athletics & Recreation Complex, Physical Plant, Stewart Memorial Library, Gage Memorial Union (including Charlie's P.U.B.), Peterson Hall, Hickok Hall, Marquis Hall/Sinclair Auditorium, Dows Fine Arts and Clark Racquet Center have power.

However, at this time, Schlarbaum House, Brandt House, Morris House, Spivey House, Hamptons East, Hamptons West, 8-plex, both 4-plex units, the BSEO House, all remaining Coe-owned houses, all remaining campus apartments, Stuart Hall, Nassif House, Clark Alumni House and McCabe Hall do not have power.

Questions regarding housing and residence life should be directed to Dean of Students Marc' Bady at mbady@coe.edu. Academic-related questions should be directed to Provost Paula O'Loughlin at provost@coe.edu.