IRR Responds to Derecho Devastation in Iowa

God answers prayer. Need evidence? Just ask the International Rescue and Relief (IRR) group that responded to the derecho, a storm described as a ‘land hurricane,’ that went through Iowa on Aug. 10. From Aug. 17 to 23, 23 IRR students as well as IRR graduate Carle Middleton and faculty Andrew and Kalie Saunders worked to help the residents in and around Belle Plaine, Iowa remove debris and trees destroyed by the storm from their property. While there, they experienced some amazing God moments. 

First of all, God gave them access to a $700,000 tree removal crane. As part of the team was looking for sites to work at the next day, they met a man who had broken his back in several places trying to get a tree off his roof. One of the branches punched through his roof and left a hole that needed patching. Gideon Rescue Company (who IRR deployed with) told the gentleman they would do their best to get the hole in his roof patched. As they were trying to patch the hole, someone walked up and asked if they needed a crane. Turns out, the crane operator, Mike, runs a company based in Michigan that travels to disaster areas and takes out trees. He volunteered to work with the team for the rest of the week. This allowed the IRR team to remove trees on houses and other technical removals that would not have been possible otherwise. 

About mid-week, another miracle happened. A tire blew on the crane, putting it out of commission. Mike usually has a hard time finding replacement tires as the crane uses a rare type of tire, and estimated it would take three days to get a new one. The IRR and Gideon teams started praying, and within an hour God provided a tire and it was getting put on the truck. Many other instances like this happened throughout IRR’s stay in Belle Plaine. It really confirmed to them that they were exactly where God wanted them. 

Jade Covel is a Senior

Religion Major from

Topeka, Kansas