National Commission Studying Iowa's Disaster Response for Children

By Justin Foss, Reporter

Tools

By Justin Foss

Story Created: Jan 6, 2010 at 6:38 PM CST

Story Updated: Jan 6, 2010 at 10:17 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - The lessons learned in Iowa's floods could soon help the entire country better handle disasters - specifically when it comes to your children.

Wednesday, the National Commission on Children and Disasters met in Cedar Rapids. During the meetings they met with school officials from Parkersburg, Waverly and Cedar Rapids.

Many of the kids at Harrison Elementary School in Cedar Rapids spent the last year and a half recovering from the flood. Staff there expected to deal with students' emotional outbursts. But those outbursts never came, and part of that credit goes to having enough resources to help families.

"I never felt like I reached out to provide services for a family and said I don't know where to find that service," said school counselor Sara Fry.

But that isn't the situation across the rest of the nation. And that's why these kids are teaching the National Commission on Children and Disasters a lesson.

The commission said Iowa responded well to the disasters, but that happened mostly by decisions made on the fly. And in the future, the commission doesn't want a good response to rely on luck, but instead on planning.

One lesson learned in Iowa: before 2008, there was no state-wide system to help families get the individual help they needed. There still isn't a system. However, state officials are hoping to get a system going during this upcoming legislative session.

Another lesson hits on the national stage - daycares and schools aren't required to have major evacuation plans.

"If a dirty bomb hits Washington, members of congress and their staff, in many cases, don't know where their kids will be taken or how to get in touch with them," said Mark Shriver, Commission Chairperson.

Kids from Iowa aren't the only ones giving lessons, but their experiences do have a lot to tell.

The commission hopes government is listening as they get ready to present a report to Congress and the President in October.

Next Article Ferentz Names Phil Parker as New Defensive Coordinator

Conversation Guidelines

Be Kind

Don't use abusive, offensive, threatening, racist, vulgar or sexually-oriented language.
Don't attack someone personally. Keep it civil and be responsible.

Share Knowledge

Be truthful. Share what you know and what you are passionate about.
What more do you want to learn? Keep it simple.

Stay focused

Promote lively and healthy debate. Stay on topic. Ask questions and give feedback on the story's topic.

Report Trouble

Help us maintain a quality comment section by reporting comments that are offensive. If you see a comment that is offensive, or you feel violates our guidelines, simply click on the "x" to the far right of the comment to report it.

read the full guidelines here »

Commenting will be disabled on stories dealing with the following subject matter: Violent crime, sexual abuse, Amber Alerts, Operation Quickfinds and suicides.