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IBEW Members Confront Midwest FloodsJune 25, 2008 Residents of the Midwest are only just starting to recover from record flooding that has caused extensive damage in seven states from Missouri up through Wisconsin. Heavy rains and tornados in June caused several major rivers, including the Mississippi, to break through levees, creating havoc throughout the region. Iowa has been particularly hard hit by the disaster.
Members of Cedar Rapids Local 405 have trained more than 125 electricians on how to re-energize equipment damaged by the flood. The Upper Iowa River in northeast Iowa first flooded on June 9, while the Cedar River, which runs through Cedar Rapids, hit a record high of 31 feet on June 13, flooding downtown. Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, flooded on June 14, damaging 15 university buildings. Gov. Chet Culver (D) declared 83 out of Iowa’s 99 counties disaster areas and tens of thousands have been evacuated from their homes. Iowa has also lost 2 million acres of soybeans and 1.3 million acres of corn, costing the state an estimated $1 billion in agricultural losses. In response to the disaster, members of the IBEW have been taking the lead in helping residents who have lost their homes, while working to restore power to parts of the state that are still in the dark. “A lot of our members lived along the river,” said Cedar Rapids Local 1362 Business Manager Jerry Vuichard. “Throughout the flooded areas you see the roads crowded with stuff people have saved from their homes.” The local is planning to donate $5,000 to affected families.
Cedar Rapids Local 204’s hall along the Cedar River flooded. “Its roof is about four to five feet under water and its officers are working out of Local 405’s office,” said Local 405 Business Manager William Hanes. Nine Alliant Energy substations are also underwater, Hanes said. Local 204 represents employees at the Iowa utility. A Rockwell Collins manufacturing plant in the Iowa City suburb of Coralville, represented by Local 1634, was forced to shut down for two days due to staffing shortages. The company is offering three weeks paid leave for employees whose homes were destroyed. More than 1,300 blocks in downtown Cedar Rapids are still underwater, with power unlikely to be restored to the area before July 4, Hanes said. Bill Meyers, a long-time Local 405 member, used an electricians’ manual that was published after the 1937 Great Miami River Flood in Ohio to train members on how to dry out flood-damaged electrical equipment. More than 125 members have gone through the training. The local also hosted a meeting of more than 500 small business owners, including many signatory contractors, on how to apply for aid from the federal Small Business Administration. “Our members are working 14 hour days to get Cedar Rapids and Iowa City running again,” Hanes said. The AFL-CIO has established a toll free disaster hotline at 877-235-2469 to connect union members with disaster relief services offered by their union and state and federal government. Union Privilege, which provides consumer benefits to union members, is offering grants of $500 to credit card holders who are facing financial hardships due to the flood. The Union Plus Credit Card Disaster Relief Fund’s is 877-761-5028.
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“It would be difficult to find a union member in the state who hasn’t been affected by the disaster,” said state AFL-CIO President Ken Sagar, who is former business manager of Cedar Rapids Local 204. 
