CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — During a Friday tour of storm damage in Cedar Rapids following this week's powerful derecho, Gov. Kim Reynolds stressed the need to restore power to Iowans hit by winds that swept across the Midwest.
"We need to get power back to Iowans," she said. "That's the number one priority. That and communication."
City officials in Cedar Rapids believe this week's damage surpasses that done by historic floods in 2008.
Reynolds announced that the state will submit a disaster application to the federal government on Monday once damage is assessed on a local level.
"There's criteria that you have to meet," Reynolds said. "So we've got people doing surveillance I asked for today, so that's my goal. But realistically, by the time we collect the information that's just how long it's going to take."
Alliant Energy told Reynolds that they expect a full restoration of power by Tuesday, and MidAmerican Energy expects the same by noon on Saturday.
Two additional counties have also received disaster proclamations from the governor's office: Cass and Guthrie.
The complete list of counties with disaster proclamations includes:
- Audubon
- Benton
- Boone
- Cass
- Cedar
- Clarke
- Clinton
- Dallas
- Greene
- Grundy
- Guthrie
- Hardin
- Iowa
- Jackson
- Jasper
- Johnson
- Jones
- Linn
- Madison
- Marshall
- Muscatine
- Polk
- Poweshiek
- Scott
- Story
- Tama
- Washington
WATCH: Drone video shows derecho damage in Cedar Rapids
MidAmerican says crews have come to assist Iowa from as far away as Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma and Alabama.
Over 27,000 MidAmerican Energy customers are still without power as of 4:40 p.m. Friday.
14 million acres of insured crops—8.2 million of corn and 5.6 million of soybeans—may have been impacted, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.
During a visit to the state Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence told Local 5 that the Trump administration is willing to help in recovery efforts.
"We do anticipate that Gov. Reynolds will make a major disaster declaration request," Pence said. "And I'm very confident that President Trump and our administration will process that quickly and we'll get support to families."
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