2020 Storm Update

Dear Grinnellians,

With the announcement late yesterday afternoon from the Poweshiek County Emergency Management Agency that Saturday, August 15 was the “earliest and best-case scenario” for a restoration of electrical power, Grinnell College’s Emergency Operations Team has turned its attention to longer-term planning and support. As available, updates will be provided and posted at 2020 Storm Recovery. [as of Jan. 5, 2023, site is no longer available]

Non-essential business operations remain suspended. We are working on support for faculty and staff who are currently teaching and preparing courses. 

The College is partnering with the county on relief services and will be coordinating all the generous offers of help and support that have been pouring in from our community.

In the meantime, we highly recommend the following local Facebook groups and websites for information and connection to resources: 

Facebook groups/pages

• Poweshiek County (IA) area Derecho 2020 Storm Resource (public group)
• Hey, Grinnell Did You Know (private group) 
• Poweshiek County Emergency Management (Facebook page)
• Grinnell IA Mutual Aid Network (public group) 
• Grinnell Fire Department (Facebook page)

Community websites

• Poweshiek County Emergency Management web site
• Alliant Energy web site

Thank you to Dining Services for feeding both on- and off- campus students last night, and to Facilities Management for their assessment and clean-up of the damage – and to all of you for reaching out to each other as we all work to figure things out.

We will be back in touch with you this afternoon with the College’s plan for support.  And please continue to check the College’s 2020 Storm Recovery site [ed. site no longer available] for updates.

All the best,