Iowa’s Derecho, A Year Later

One year ago, Iowa had to hold it down as a storm the likes of which we'd never seen came through.

When we heard the word Derecho, we didn't know what it meant. Derecho is a 1:2, right?

All we knew was that the wind picked up, and it stayed constant. Speeds as much as 110mph were recorded across the state - that of a Category 3 hurricane.

Trees fell, grain silos collapsed, the fronts of buildings blew out.

450,000 people were without power in the area. Some for weeks.

All in all, the storm caused $11 Billion worth of damage.

If you were lucky to have found a chainsaw, you more than likely ran out of chain within a day or two, and had to drive out of the area to find more supplies.

What is a Derecho?

A derecho is defined by the SPC as a "widespread, long-lived windstorm coming from a cluster of thunderstorms. To be classified as a derecho, the wind damage needs to extend for more than 250 miles, include wind gusts of at least 58 mph (severe classification), and produce several well-separated wind gusts of 75 mph (hurricane-force)."

The Aftermath

One photo from a listener in Cedar Rapids shows the amount of debris this storm brought down.

Get our free mobile app