How to help central Iowa residents following severe weather

PLEASANT HILL, Iowa (WHO) — Over a week has passed since severe weather ripped through central Iowa, and communities are still picking up the pieces.

Pleasant Hill Public Works crews are continuing cleanup efforts this week. So far, debris collection has been focused on the areas that were severely impacted, but it will include other areas in the city soon.

The Oakwood Cemetery is one of the severely impacted areas from the tornado. It had debris, fallen and broken headstones, and several fallen trees.

The Pleasant Hill Police Department said that over 100 volunteers came together on Friday to cleanup the cemetery. It is now reopen to the public, but there is still some debris left over, so officials are urging visitors to remain cautious.

Police also said that anyone who’s interested in helping with cleanup efforts across the city can send an email to parks.info@pleasanthilliowa.org.

Monetary donations can also be made to help the city recover. The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines activated the Disaster Relief Fund for the Pleasant Hill community a day after the tornado.

“Our process now is just really working with emergency management, 211, other non-profit providers on the ground, to understand where there’s an opportunity to provide support, specifically to impact the economic conditions of vulnerable populations as well as support health issues that might be arising from the disaster,” said Angie Dethlefs-Trettin, the Chief Community Impact Officer for the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines.

The Disaster Relief Fund was started in 2019 and is open year-round for people to proactively donate to before catastrophes strike. When disasters occur, the fund is activated and donations are contributed to recovery efforts for the people in the community.

This is only the second time that the fund was activated. The first was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A link to donate to the Disaster Recovery Fund is here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.