Floods, Tornadoes Deal Double Blow to CWAers in Midwest

Between a Memorial Day weekend tornado and floods of historic proportions in June, CWA members in the Midwest have had more than their share of natural disasters for 2008.

Local officers and CWA staff are still compiling lists of affected members in Iowa, Indiana and other parts of the Midwest and are providing information to victims about aid available through the CWA Disaster Relief Fund.

In addition, some locals have taken up donations and set up bank accounts for victims. District 7 members attending the CWA convention last week collected more than $2,300 for Iowa victims of the Parkersburg tornado and the subsequent floods.

"I think they're just still reeling from it all," said Local 7170 President Bonnie Winther. "There's just so much damage. You can't imagine what these people are going through."

Winther's Waterloo local includes Parkersburg, about 20 miles west, where two members' homes were damaged by the May 25 tornado. She described driving through the town and "not being acclimated anymore" because so many buildings were destroyed. On June 10, floodwaters poured through her Waterloo neighborhood, sparing her own slightly elevated home and damaging and destroying scores of others.

Another CWA local leader was not as lucky. CWA Representative Midge Slater said Local 7108 President Matt Porter lost his Waterloo house, with his wife soon due to give birth to their fifth child.

CWA members in the Indianapolis area of Indiana were also victims of dual disasters, a May 30 tornado and June floods. Local 4900 President Pam Siefers said she's heard of at least nine people displaced by water and two whose apartments were damaged by the tornado.

In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, southeast of Waterloo, floodwaters reached mid-level shelves on the first floor of the city's library, where 40 CWA members work. Between water and mold, Local 7101 President Joie Welsh said the library's entire collection may be lost. Employees have been assigned to satellite libraries for now. She said no cleaning or salvage efforts are underway in the damaged building because it is too contaminated.

Another CWA business in Cedar Rapids, Ad Craft, suffered extensive water damage to all its printing equipment, temporarily putting four of her members out of work, Welsh said. But she noted that the company's union-friendly owner asked for the name of another CWA printer so he could send his customers there until he's back in business.

Two library workers had significant damage to their homes and Welsh said the secretary of her local, Dean Shannon, lost his house. Several days earlier she dropped him off after a union meeting and saw a Weather Channel van parked in front of the house. "I said, 'Dean, this can't be a good sign.'"

She said he and his wife had managed to pack and move a few things but not nearly what they'd hoped to save by the time emergency workers knocked on their door and gave them 20 minutes to evacuate.

According to media reports, the record-breaking flood left at least 438 city blocks in Cedar Rapids under water, which was 8 feet high in some neighborhoods. The Cedar River crested at nearly 32 feet, 12 feet higher than the previous worst flood in 1929.

The aftermath of the storm has kept Qwest members in Iowa working around the clock. Another busy CWA unit has been the Cedar Rapids jailers and dispatchers. As the storm approached, Welsh said jailers took prisoners out to stack sandbags.

Members who have suffered losses in the Midwest storms, California fires or other disasters are urged to contract their locals for information about and help applying for aid from the CWA Disaster Relief Fund. Emergency aid is also available from Union Privilege for Union Plus credit card holders. For more information go online to www.unionplus.org/disaster-relief.cfm or call (877) 761-5028 to speak with a representative.