10 Percent Reportedly Still Lack Internet After Derecho

It's been almost a month since the derecho, and KCRG reports that about 10 percent of internet customers through ImOn and Mediacom still do not have their service restored. Crews continue to work hard, but patience wears thin as the internet becomes a necessity for online schooling and work-from-home arrangements.

Both companies made presentations at a Cedar Rapids City Council meeting Tuesday and said they are working around the clock, weather permitting--which they say it hasn't in recent days. Rain and thunderstorms are slowing down their progress.

ImOn says it has four more nodes left to connect and Mediacom expects to have 97 percent of its customers restored by the end of the week. ImOn, for its part, says they have free Wi-Fi hotspots for customers' use and have lifted the two-hour restriction on using them for the benefit of those who need them. The list of free community Wi-Fi hotspots is on their website. Downtown Cedar Rapids, NewBo City Market, Imon Ice (Cedar Rapids Ice Arena) and the Iowa City Ped Mall are listed among them.

In speaking to The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Mediacom President Steve Purcell puts the number still without the internet at just over 5,000. It's important to know that even when your power and internet services are restored, intermittent outages may continue to occur for some time to come. Some of what's been done are temporary fixes and will need further repairs.

For their part, Mediacom also said many areas were unsafe to work in for days after the derecho, delaying progress.