After the destructive tornado that came through Greenfield on May 21st, community members have been working to do whatever they can to assist their neighbors in recovery efforts.

Representative for House District 23 Ray Sorensen is no exception, spending his days over the last weeks helping around town. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that while he can’t help by moving equipment like a skid loader or other such things, there are some things he can do to help thanks to his time in the Iowa Capitol building.

“As a state representative, I’m kind of limited in my powers. I can write legislation when January comes around and session comes around. So beyond that, though, I’ve made a lot of contacts through the years and know a lot of folks in the state departments and, of course, the governor and our congressional delegation and those folks. And so what I’ve been doing is just trying to get people in touch with the right people, just being a facilitator. Just helping those folks that may have a specific question that I can’t answer, I will find the guy that can answer that question.”

Sorensen mentions that one such connection he had was with Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon, which helped to get debris disposal sites approved quickly, as they needed to be sanctioned by the DNR first. He adds that another big help has been the multiple visits by Governor Kim Reynolds, who helped to make sure that things were pushed up to the federal level to get some assistance for residents in the area affected by the tornado.