Pottawattamie County spokesman, Craig Carlsen released the following information on Monday morning:
The community of Minden continues to identify damages sustained from the April 26th tornado and is beginning the recovery process.
The weekend’s focus has been to secure critical infrastructure and services as well as initiate cleanup efforts. All residents impacted by the tornado currently have temporary housing arrangements and emergency sheltering has not been required.
The community remains closed to the general public due to the amount of significant debris and operation of heavy equipment throughout the community.
One of the current challenges facing response and recovery efforts is the influx of resources that haven’t been requested. Current response efforts include provisions for meal availability, water/hydration, medical support, and operational tools, heavy equipment, and resources sufficient for coming week’s operations.
Officials are currently limiting access to the community to public safety personnel, utility crews, residents, and the organized volunteer groups that have been requested and deployed to meet current and specific operational priorities.
Officials are advising volunteers and organizations not to self-deploy to the disaster area. As safety conditions and operational needs change, officials will announce volunteer opportunities for individuals, small groups, and additional organized disaster response teams when that need arises and safety conditions improve.
For individuals or groups wanting to donate to the relief of disaster survivors, officials strongly encourage people to make monetary donations. This allows the ability to purchase goods that match the needs identified by disasters survivors seeking assistance.
Donations can be made to the Southwest Iowa Emergency Relief Fund to support areas impacted throughout the region (https://www.givewesterniowa.org).
If you wish to have your donation designated to the community of Minden, a special fund is being established and information on how to make that donation will be announced in the coming days.
Ongoing disaster information and a link for property owners to report storm-related damage can be accessed on the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency website, pcema-ia.org.
