Power might not be restored in parts of Marshalltown until Saturday because of fallen power poles.

The Marshalltown City Council met for an emergency meeting at noon on Wednesday to go over regular business and discuss damage caused by the derecho storm which devastated much of Iowa and the northern Midwest.

“I was told this morning to anticipate days until much of the north side (gets power),” said Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper. “Alliant is doing a great job and connecting everybody they can connect.”

Emails were mistakenly sent out by Alliant to customers, giving estimates of when power will come back on.

“It’s just a glitch in the system,” Tupper said.

The council’s regularly-scheduled Monday meeting was postponed because of the storm.

Wednesday’s meeting was significantly shorter than others because the focus was placed on the destruction caused by the massive storm, rather than regular city business.

UnityPoint — Marshalltown contacted the city to inquire about a cooling center.

“They are getting a lot of elderly people that are reporting to them sick, but it’s mostly because they’re hot,” Tupper said. “The Salvation Army’s unable to help with that because they don’t have any power.”

He is hoping to find an establishment where people can come inside to cool down as the temperature remains high.

Marshalltown’s Police and Fire building will be get a supply of water delivered on Wednesday.

“We’re not aware of anybody with food or water needs. We’re not getting those questions like we did with the tornado,” Tupper said. “I have to assume as this drags on that we might.”

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com