Cedar Rapids
 

Amazed so few people have heard of the derecho that hammered my hometown of Cedar Rapids, IA and a good number of surrounding communities Monday. Just now starting to get more national coverage.

Imagine going from a light breeze to straight line winds approaching 125 mpg over a huge area with almost no warning. 10 million acres of corn flattened. 50% of the tree canopy in my hometown gone in 60 minutes. Every tree in my parents yard is either uprooted or stripped bare to the trunk.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weath...-iowa-derecho/

Geez, sorry to hear that Spence. I hope your parents are doing ok and the only damage they experienced was to the trees.
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Yes, hope your parents are ok. Amazing how much crops where lost - and buildings, sheds, etc. Farmers in that area have had it rough the last 2 -3 years.

My dad is the only one left, he lost most of his gutters, some siding and probably will need a new roof.

Big problem last week was nobody was prepared and no one knew what was going on. As you can imagine the lower income areas suffered the most. People camping outside of their apartments looking for diapers and food. The Mayor and Gov hardly even responded. I think they've got it more stable now and electrical is partially restored.

I lay this one on the media. They could have picked it up, and they still could. But it is not in their agenda.... And then there is the question of semantics; derecho....crickets. I had to look it up. Wasn't sure if it was the name that the storm had been given, as done with tropical depressions and hurricanes. Tornado, hurricane, tsunami, you are going to get the media attention. Derecho... apparently not so much. I just watched some videos during lunch and that looks as bad as any storm coverage I have seen

It started getting a lot more coverage towards the end of last week. I don't think a lot of the media understood how bad things really are. Still no power for my father.

Now they've upped the wind estimate to 140 mph :eek5:

That was some crazy swath or storm, like a cat 3 hurricane hitting the heartland

Actually the NWS just stated it was a wind event equal to a Cat 4 hurricane. 90% of homes in CR are damaged. My father just got power after 12 days.
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hey Jeff, just saw this. Hope Dad is OK.

It is being promoted on the Sirius radio station The Highway by one of their DJs who just visited Iowa, which was one of the last two states he had on his bucket list of all fifty states. He is spending a decent amount of time telling his listeners what he saw and witnessed....