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Powerless struggle

Thousands still scramble without electricity

T-R photos by Thomas Nelson — Timothy Pitts uses a small grill to make himself coffee in the wake of Monday’s derecho. He and thousands of others around Marshalltown are struggling to keep food without power.

Marshalltown residents continue to pick up the pieces after one of Iowa’s worst natural disasters.

More than 96 hours after the devastating derecho hit Marshalltown, thousands are without power and more than 170,000 are lacking electricity statewide.

Many people who experienced property damage from the wind storm were still recovering from the 2018 tornado. They’re on a limited income and their food supply is getting lower every single day they are without power.

Timothy Pitts lives on North 11th Street and watched the derecho destroy his garage from his front door. On Friday he was outside making coffee over a fire while he worked on cleaning up debris still lingering from Monday’s storm.

“It would be nice to have some electricity,” Pitt said. “I have running water at least. I can take a shower.”

Branches from nearby trees knocked down his fence and caused a large amount of damage to his property.

He had a garden in his backyard with corn. He tried to straighten the corn out, but he doesn’t know if it will last.

Around his yard is a tree that was knocked over by the 2018 tornado that he hasn’t been able to remove yet. The tornado also ripped off his roof, but luckily his new roof was able to survive the derecho.

“It’s been a lot to deal with,” Pitts said.

For now, he and his dog Leo have been keeping each other company.

On the corner of North 11th and Lee streets next door to Pitts is Rudy Singh and his family. They’re also picking up the pieces without power. The derecho ripped up all the work they did to repair their house after the 2018 tornado.

“Everything we did to the house just got messed up again,” Singh said.

The storm hit while they were coming back home after getting lunch.

“All of the shingles are torn off, the water ruined our coaches, our floor, our T.V. — pretty much everything in our living room,” Singh said. “All our food went bad.”

It has been a rough week for Singh and his family.

“It’s been hot so we’ve spent most of our time outside,” Singh said.

The family has a picnic table set up in their yard. Their pet bird Georgia has fared well considering the circumstances.

They have looked for grants to help with the repairs to their property.

The pandemic has not made life any easier for the Singhs.

“We were out of work for a while because of the pandemic,” Singh said. “It’s been hard.”

Susan Anderson and her son Dominick, 15 are also without power.

She considers herself lucky because her house and Jeep didn’t get damaged by the storm.

“I’m still wondering when a church is going to offer meals?” Anderson said. “Usually the churches open up and start serving.”

Almost all of the food in her refrigerator had to be thrown out.

“We have some milk and Gatorade, but that’s it,” Anderson said. “We have peanut butter and jelly to eat.”

Her water still works, but she can’t get hot water. She’s on food stamps and is hoping she’s able to get an allotment to replace the food she lost.

“I don’t have any money coming in until the end of the month,” Anderson said. “I live on social security and disability. I need some help. I need some food to eat and a hot shower.”

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

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