ResilienceHelping an Iowa Town Recover from Tornado Through Research, Outreach

Published 12 September 2019

In the months following the tornado which hit Marshalltown, Iowa, faculty and students in Iowa State University’s sustainable environments interdisciplinary graduate program examined the housing recovery experience of different groups of Marshalltown residents. The goal is to finalize a toolkit that communities can use to examine social and economic challenges that exacerbate a disaster’s damage and slow recovery efforts.

Jazmin Diaz’s car was totaled a year ago when an EF-3 tornado struck her hometown of Marshalltown. Some of her friends lost their homes in the disaster.

A month later, Diaz, an Iowa State University junior in management, returned to school. Across campus, College of Design researchers started mobilizing to work with the community on recovery. This spring, Diaz joined a research project led by Sara Hamideh, assistant professor of community and regional planning, and Jon Wolseth, ISU Extension and Outreach community development specialist, to examine the housing recovery experience of different groups of Marshalltown residents.

“I was interested in helping because my community was so affected, especially Latinos,” Diaz said. “During our interviews with the residents, we saw the trauma. It goes so far beyond just the economic factors.”

IAS says that in the months following the tornado, the effort expanded upon Hamideh’s research to include more faculty and students in Iowa State’s sustainable environments interdisciplinary graduate program. Mimi Wagner, associate professor of landscape architecture; Austin Stewart, associate professor of art and visual culture; Alex Braidwood, associate professor of graphic design; and Dave Swenson, associate scientist in economics, received a grant from the Fieldstead & Company Endowment for Community Enhancement Fund to support this year’s work in Marshalltown.

By the end of this fall, their goal is to finalize a toolkit that communities can use to examine social and economic challenges that exacerbate a disaster’s damage and slow recovery efforts. While other toolkits address disaster preparedness and response, the ISU researchers say this will be the first toolkit with regenerative and sustainable design in mind.

This spring, two sustainable environments courses taught by Wagner and Stewart joined the Marshalltown project. This summer, the same students are continuing the work in a course taught by Wagner. This fall, students in Braidwood’s class will finalize the toolkit. Wagner, Hamideh, Stewart and Braidwood also hold faculty appointments in the sustainable environments program.