A rare dereho storm swept across the United States: there are victims and destruction, hundreds of thousands without light
As of Wednesday, August 12, more than 600 consumers in the Midwest were still without electricity due to a massive derejo storm that hit the region on Monday, August 000. Iowa was especially hard hit: a strong hurricane destroyed the state's power grid and destroyed valuable corn crops, writes USA Today.
Full recovery from the storm will take several weeks, officials said.
The wind blew up to 112 mph (180 kilometers per hour) as it swept from eastern Nebraska through Iowa and parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois, including Chicago and its suburbs.
What an incredible time lapse as the derecho moved through Chicago. #ILwx #derecho pic.twitter.com/zJf8wX56a1
- Tyler Roney (@TylerJRoney) August 10
Of the 600 still without power as of Aug. 000, about 12 were in Iowa, according to poweroutage.us. In the morning, homes and buildings were still without power in Iowa's three largest metropolitan areas - Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport.
?# BREAKING VIDEO: ? Check out this WILD video as a #derecho blows the roof off a building in #Chicago earlier today. #ILwx pic.twitter.com/Yj5jW8abWO
- WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) August 10
As of 8/10/20, Iowa got hit by a huge storm called derecho and completely knocked my entire city of power. Our streets are littered with up rooted trees and some areas being flooded. I hope those that have been affected please be safe #derecho pic.twitter.com/tnjup8EnHC
- Derrick (@AreyoTM) August 12
Early estimates indicate that the derecho has destroyed at least one-third of Iowa's crops—about 10 million acres (4 million hectares), according to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. In addition, tens of millions of bushels of grain stored in cooperatives and farms were damaged or destroyed.
A powerful wind shook Marshalltown, Iowa, where an EF-3 tornado destroyed the city's downtown area just two years ago. On August 10, a windstorm damaged some factories that had recently been restored, and even the scaffolding that was used to repair the historic courthouse dome.
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Some very sobering scenes of devastating damage coming out of Marshalltown Iowa after a 99mph gust was just reported from a probable derecho #iawx pic.twitter.com/JgWwOQJwMU
- Kyle Woods (@ Kyle22Woods) August 10
Scott Blackstock, manager of Casey's Department Store on Marshalltown Boulevard, hid during a storm with eight shoppers in a windowless cold drinks room.
“It was the only place to hide,” he said. “It was pretty bad.”
When there was still no electricity in his store the next day, Blackstock looked through his inventory to see what products could be salvaged. The store's sign was curved and hung upside down, and Blackstock wasn't sure if the piece of sheet metal wrapped around a nearby electric pole was part of the store's siding or roof.
NEW VIDEO: This power pole was no match for the strong winds in today's #derecho.
With winds reaching over 100 mph in parts of #Iowa, we saw terrifying scenes such as this one. #IAwx #ILwx #WIwx pic.twitter.com/jArfNln1w3
- WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) August 10
Reynolds said the storm left more damage than a typical tornado. She has posted emergency declarations in 20 counties and expects more people to seek help.
Iowa may eventually meet the criteria for a federal distress declaration, Reynolds said.
“I would be shocked if we don't because this happened across almost the entire state, there was very widespread, significant damage,” she said.
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Serious damage has also been reported in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the state's second most populous city. According to AccuWeather, a gust of 100 mph (160 km / h) winds was recorded in Hiawatha, just a few miles north of Cedar Rapids.
More #derecho madness #iawx #CedarRapids pic.twitter.com/lokP45jde4
— ⒽⒾⓁ ??? ⓀⒺⓎ (@HilLokie) August 10
#USA | Residents in the #Midwest felt the death of a #derecho which left widespread damage and half a million customers on the dark Monday afternoon. https://t.co/7qXE8spqjL pic.twitter.com/JNUAW6WdGt
- Atlantide (@Atlantide4world) August 10
A stormy wind blew off the roofs from some of the buildings, adding debris scattered across the city.
In Iowa, a 63-year-old cyclist died after being struck by a large tree that fell on a bike path outside Cedar Rapids. And in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a 73-year-old woman was killed by a hurricane. She covered a little boy in a mobile home destroyed by a storm.
In total, the derecho covered nearly 800 miles (1287 km) of U.S. territory in 14 hours, AccuWeather said. By definition, a derecho is a long-lived complex of severe thunderstorms that extends at least 250 miles (400 km).
In addition, according to the National Meteorological Service's Storm Prediction Center, gusts of wind during derecho should exceed 58 mph (93 km / h), with in fact, at least a few times, gusts of wind exceeding 75 mph (120 km / h).
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