Residents in the small community of Malcom in Poweshiek County are among those still without power a week after the derecho blew through.
“Right now we’re still cleaning up some of the debris that was left around the town from the trees,” Malcom Mayor Dawn Hamilton said. “The power companies are here. They’re trying to get us electricity. We still do not have electricity yet.”
Malcom residents have been warned on the community’s Facebook page to turn the circuit breakers off in their homes, as there may be a power surge when electric service is restored and that could damage appliances or start a fire. The community’s population is less than 300 and the mayor said unfortunately quite a few homes have had structural damage.
“We had a couple of homes that are a total loss and then we’ve had I would say, I’m not 100% sure, but up to 10 houses with damage, you know, where trees went through the roof or poked holes in the houses,” she said, “and then lots of roof damage.”
One of the three deaths in last Monday’s storm occurred in Malcom when volunteer firefighter and EMT Samantha Weirson was killed when a tree fell on a house. A graveside service was held for the mother of five this past weekend. The mayor said the City of Malcom and its fire department will schedule a memorial event once the storm recovery is completed.
(By Tim Dill, KGRN, Grinnell)