I live in the heart of one of the areas that was devastated by the Derecho in IA. (We got lucky my house is on a east facing hill below the hill top line so we had some protection). In our area we lost 40% to 60% of the trees. (Cedar Rapids/Marion area). I only have 1 tree in my yard, a big ole maple I planted when I was 6, 43 years ago, and it survived. We spent 3 weeks helping all of our neighbors cut up and haul away trees and debris, the city is still .
Basically it was a hurricane in the Midwest, we had 5 minutes warning, and our structures are not designed to handle hurricane level winds.
So many houses damaged and destroyed. Being in the Midwest we are used to tornadoes doing this kind of damage, but they tend to be pretty localized. This wind storm cut a huge swath through iowa.
I actually went home sick on that day, drove home in front of the storm, thinking it was just a regular ole storm, got home with 5 minutes to spare and helped batten down the hatches, then the family hunkered down in the laundry room (Next to a retaining wall, we live in a ranch home with no basement). The devastation is just mind blowing. We sent crews of linemen down south when Katrina hit, and the devastation here is equal to what they had.
I work for an electric utility (Distribution cooperative). We have 39 sub stations, 38 of them were down. It took us 3 to 5 days to get power back to about 35,000 of our members and another 3 or 4 days to get it to the few that were left.
But we are Iowa tough, and working our way through it. My oldest son (21) went out and bought a chainsaw to help the neighbors and others around town to dismember and haul away downed trees and debris. My neighbor saw what the boys were doing, and gave my son his old trailer (He was going to sell it for $600) for free. (Which has since made nearly 100 trips to and from the tree/wood/refuse disposal area.
