Articles Tagged: Iowa Derecho 2020

Trees Forever is teaming up with five local nurseries to offer $100 or $250 tree vouchers for eligible Cedar Rapids residents. Here’s how you can qualify for a voucher.

The Westdale area is growing rapidly, and residents celebrate it for its diversity and mix of amenities. But what infrastructure and services are needed to support its growth? A new plan from Cedar Rapids will guide future improvements to this part of the southwest quadrant.

More than two years after the 2020 derecho destroyed much of the Brucemore historic estate, the attraction’s gates and two statues have been restored — marking a key step in the nonprofit’s recovery from the storm.

The Cedar Rapids City Council has signed off on resolutions of support for multifamily and single-family housing projects that are seeking a slice of federal disaster recovery funds to add a combined 300 housing units in the community.

The Marion City Council will vote on five project applications Thursday. The church, which could be converted into multifamily housing, is among them.

Colleagues say that Sandi Fowler, the deputy city manager who has worked for the city of Cedar Rapids for more than 30 years, is a true public servant who always kept citizens at the center of decision-making.

Nonprofit Trees Forever this year piloted Neighborhood Tree Captains and tree voucher programs to empower residents to replant on their private properties. These programs were developed as part of the ReLeaf effort to reforest Cedar Rapids after the derecho.

The award comes with $10,000 to be awarded toward a project ,and will be used in tree replanting efforts in Marion.

Seedlings planted in in gravel beds June as a pilot project were recently planted in Bever Park, the first city park where the seedlings were planted. These seedlings offer an additional source of tree stock for parks as Cedar Rapids works to replant about 42,000 trees on public land after the derecho.

The authors of “Our Towns,” the book that inspired an HBO documentary, told a local audience Wednesday that Cedar Rapids is leading in the way it has recovered from recent disasters, and in the steps it’s taking to address the climate crisis.

As the city of Cedar Rapids continues to recover from the devastation of the 2020 derecho’s hurricane-force winds, the city will purchase a new stump grinder to aid in its efforts. Staff and contracted crews have removed about 7,300 stumps since March.

Five experts discussed the widespread impacts of extreme weather during an hour-long panel at Iowa Ideas 2022

To make the most of a disaster scenario and pave a path for a strong recovery, Iowa city leaders say they must uplift the businesses that keep the community’s economic wheels turning. Here’s how some have turned adversity into opportunity.

The program launches this fall to get residents involved in planting and taking care of right-of-way trees

The county-hosted panel discussion on Thursday highlighted the kind of work that would better prepare the community and its residents for future disasters. In particular, panelists said immigrant and refugee populations, elderly residents and smaller communities are the most vulnerable.