A way to help flooded journalists

This comes by way of Steve Buttry, editor of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette:

In Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City and other towns in the flood zone, a number of employees from news organizations have had their homes and personal belongings destroyed or severely damaged by the floods ... all while they covered the devastation for their communities.

The Iowa Newspaper Foundation has established a fund to help these employees. You can send tax-deductible checks to Iowa Media Employees Disaster Relief Fund at Iowa Newspaper Foundation, 319 E. 5th St., Des Moines, IA 50309. Or, you can donate online and get more info HERE.

“You can't get flood insurance unless you live in the 100-year flood plain and this flood went beyond the 500-year flood plain, so we truly are looking at a disaster of millennial proportions, with much of the damage uninsured,” Buttry wrote. “And we are only now getting our first glimpses of the devastation in some homes. While we know victims will receive FEMA assistance, we also know that is not enough. We will take steps to ensure that any aid we collect is used only for legitimate flood damage beyond any reimbursement from insurance, FEMA or other public assistance.”

The NINA board voted Friday to donate $300. As newsrooms and individuals, please consider joining this effort to help our colleagues.