Hunter
08/19/20
Over 21,000 Linn County residents still have no power as of this morning.
Alliant Energy says that century-old trees, transmission and power lines are being worked through by their crews. Crews from Nova Scotia have joined the effort, on top of the National Guard and hundreds of other crews who are in the area helping to restore power.
Residential customers are finding out that they’re having trouble getting electricians to repair damage that they’re responsible for, and electrical contractors are scrambling to find replacement meters. For some frustrated residents, it may take weeks to have their power restored. The city warns customers to only work with licensed and bonded electricians, and to not allow them to work on connecting the power grid to their homes. Customers are also cautioned not to pay tree-trimmers up front; reputable ones do not require a down-payment.
In other storm-related news, the overnight curfew hours have been shortened. The new hours are midnight to 6am.
Public Works officials say that they continue to clear debris; there are still a few streets blocked with trees and downed power lines. Just Monday alone, trucks hauled about 34 million pounds of debris out of affected areas.
Crews are about 60% done with restoring power to lighted intersections, and about half done with replacing down or damaged traffic and street signs. They say by the end of the week, all 191 will be operational. Crews will also be making multiple passes through the city in the coming weeks.
Refuse crews are still collecting spoiled food, if residents were missed, they can email solid-waste-recycling@cedar-rapids.org.
Recycling will be picked up again starting next Monday; yard cart collection will resume August 31st. Non-tree rubble from the storm will be picked up at the curb starting Monday.
The school district says 31 of their 34 of their buildings had damage; insurance companies are assessing damage and they should know more by the end of the week. The focus now is drying out the buildings. Online instruction will be a mandatory part of the school year, and the District says they have laptops and ipads for every child, as well as hotspots for internet, but that plan is on hold until city infrastructure is repaired. There’s no start date yet set for the school year.
All updated information is available on the city’s website, www.cedar-rapids.org.