The Legal Services Corp. announced Wednesday it is awarding Iowa Legal Aid more than $1.4 million to support the delivery of legal services to low-income Iowans affected by the August 2020 derecho. The legal services nonprofit will also be reimbursed $34,577 for costs already incurred from providing services related to the derecho. Iowa Legal Aid will use the funding to provide direct representation to more people affected by the derecho, engage more pro bono volunteers and conduct community building and outreach with Iowa disaster response groups. The grant will also fund additional staff, advertisements in rural areas, new equipment and a mobile intake unit. Some of the immediate legal needs for natural disaster survivors are help filing for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance and insurance benefits and dealing with related evictions, unemployment and document replacement, according to a release. “Low-income people who confront civil legal issues in the wake of natural disasters face an uphill battle, and they shouldn’t have to go it alone,” said LSC President Ronald S. Flagg. The Legal Services Corp. is providing grants from a $40 million allocation from Congress to Iowa Legal Aid and 18 other organizations across the country to address natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.