Iowa disaster relief teams tackle blizzard’s effects

WAYLAND, Iowa — Iowa Baptists’ disaster relief feeding unit was dispatched Feb. 28 to assist residents in southeast Iowa who had been without electricity since a Feb. 25 ice storm knocked out power across much of that part of the state. The blizzard marked the first time the Iowa unit has been called out to a disaster inside the state since it was established three years ago. It has responded to disasters in other states, however.

The group operated an emergency meal site at WACO Secondary School in Wayland until power was returned to the community March 1. Some meals also were delivered to elderly residents in rural areas around Wayland. Approximately 100 meals were served over the two-day period by the unit in conjunction with local emergency feeding efforts based at a nursing home in Winfield and a fire station in nearby Olds. The towns of Wayland, Sweedsburg, Olds and Winfield were most impacted by the storm.