The Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) will be delaying the start to the school year but it is unclear by how long, Superintendent Noreen Bush said in a message to district families.
All of the district’s buildings have some type of damage from Monday’s derecho, according to Bush. There is major tree damage at all buildings, major roof damage at 16 buildings, minor roof damage at 12 buildings and puncture damage at the other six. The buildings that have major roof damage also have water and structural damage, Bush said.
the hallway at jefferson high school in cedar rapids right now… far too many people’s homes look like this too. NATIONAL COVERAGE IS NEEDED pic.twitter.com/yTPrF5bouT
— woah kennie (@kennedyrowIand) August 13, 2020
A small sample of the damage at Kennedy. Many classroom, Gym, aud Black box and more have damage. Stay Strong Cougs! pic.twitter.com/gRPOX7DUdS
— Jason Kline (@CRKennedyHigh) August 12, 2020
A lack of power and internet service “complicates all recovery efforts,” Bush added. All district buildings are closed and sports practices until further notice.
“At this point, we know we will be delaying the start of the school year… for how long is yet to be determined,” Bush said. “We will not have staff report next week, which was supposed to be the first week of teacher workshop preparation.”
The district’s Board of Education was scheduled to discuss pushing the start date from Aug. 24 to Aug. 31 at a meeting on Monday, but that meeting was canceled due to the severe weather. A new meeting date has not been announced yet.
Bush has been in communication with the Iowa Department of Education on the start of the school year.
“We will continue to seek their support regarding options for our district during this catastrophe recovery period, considerations for the calendar year and instructional platforms to start the year,” Bush said.
Buildings open around Linn County as day shelters
The Linn County Emergency Management Agency announced locations that are open for individuals who need to charge medical equipment or need a day shelter. Medical supplies are not available at these locations, the agency said.
Anderson Public Library – Center Point Community Room
720 Main St., Center Point
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Special Instructions: Social distancing – only outlets with red-covered plates have powerCity of Hiawatha Community Center
101 Emmons St., Hiawatha
Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.City of Palo Community Center
2800 Hollenbeck Rd., Palo
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.City of Robins Community Center
265 S. 2nd Street, Robins
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.City of Springville City Hall
304 Broadway Street, Springville
Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.Coggon Old Fire Station
112 2nd St. South, Coggon
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
No Air Conditioning
About 10,000 Alliant Energy customers in Linn County got their power restored between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning. However, 77,407 customers are still experiencing outages, as of Thursday morning.
The Cedar Rapids Police Department said on Facebook that some of the neighborhoods in the Edgewood Road/33rd Ave SW area have power restored, but many neighborhoods in the city are still without power. CRPD also said all overturned semis within city limits have been removed from the interstate.
There are still many road closures around Linn County. A map of the updated closures can be found online.
Cedar Rapids distributing information via radio, flyers
The City of Cedar Rapids will distribute flyers to local grocery stores and home improvement stores to update residents who don’t have electricity or internet service.
Information will also be broadcasted from WMT 600 AM radio at 7:10 a.m. and again at 8:35 a.m. The same information will be on Z102.9 FM at 7:30 a.m.
Thursday’s flyer includes information about the state’s preliminary damage assessment survey. The city said residents and commercial property owners are encouraged to use the online form. The form does not take the place of an insurance claim, but it is another tool to help identify areas with sustained damage.
Additional information includes the garbage collection schedule, information about debris pick-up and general tips about generator and chainsaw safety.
