On August 10, Iowans were faced with a derecho, a powerful windstorm that left many families with damage to their homes and without power. As students returned to campus last week, many Panthers had to leave their families during the aftermath of the storm to return for in-person learning. 

Hannah Zwanziger, a senior elementary education major from Cedar Rapids, detailed the terror her and her family faced with the storm.

“The sky was black, and it truly looked like we were in the middle of a hurricane,” she said. “Each neighborhood was impacted with trees down and houses damaged. An eight-minute commute home for my mom took two and a half hours as people were driving through yards or any area that they could get through. It was crazy how the landscape of Linn County was destroyed in a half hour.” 

Along with the storm, Zwanziger struggled with classes resuming on campus.

“I felt guilty leaving my family and community behind,” she said. “We are still without power, and there is a lot of help needed.”

Zwanziger also expressed concern for Iowans facing damage from the storm in the time of COVID-19. She stated that concerns for COVID-19 were moved to the “wayside” in order to make sure people were receiving proper help in her community.

However, with the heightened restrictions and uncertainty that come with returning to campus amid a pandemic, “we are not sure how much more we can take,” she said.

Kayla Seymour, a communication and public relations major who is also from Cedar Rapids, expressed her family’s horrifying experience living through the storm.

“I don’t think that I had ever been that scared in my life,” she said. “My brother was clinging to me crying while my sister was on the phone panicking.”

Once the storm had passed, the fear Seymour’s family felt was still present.

“Our neighborhood had so many trees knocked down that people were not able to drive in and out and no one had power,” she said.

Taking on the aftermath of the storm was a different experience for Seymour. After their home was damaged, she and her family traveled to a hotel in Iowa City for the night.

“The weirdest part about walking into Iowa City was how normal it seemed. People were walking around, streetlights were working and houses were not destroyed,” she said.

Seeing her local community come together during cleanup was both inspiring and thought-provoking, she said.

“One of my major takeaways is how people who experience these disasters have to jump up from their recent trauma and start working on cleaning up their property,” she said.

Going forward, Seymour wants the UNI community to reach out to those who have been affected.

“Simply keeping my family and I in everyone’s thoughts would be great,” she said. “I would also ask that people reach out to those they know who have experienced the derecho and check in on them.”

Students who are struggling with the aftermath of the derecho are encouraged to contact the UNI Counseling Center at 319-273-2676.