Ron Brackett and Sean Breslin
With gusts up to 112 mph, an intense derecho downed trees, smashed sheds, flattened crops and damaged homes and buildings across a long stretch of the Midwest on Monday.
Injuries were reported in several places, and one death in Indiana was attributed to the storm.
Two people were trapped when wind rolled a mobile home about 7:45 p.m. Monday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Rescuers found a woman holding a child under debris inside the home. The 5-year-old boy, thought to be the woman's grandson, was conscious and in good condition, but the woman was later pronounced dead, Adam O’Connor, deputy chief of the Fort Wayne Fire Department, told The Associated Press.
Several people were hurt when the storm blew through central Iowa, Marshall County homeland security coordinator Kim Elder told the Associated Press.
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"We had quite a few people trapped in buildings and cars. We’re in life-saving mode right now," Elder said, adding that no deaths were reported and the extent of injuries was unknown.
More than 1 million homes and businesses were still without electricity Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us. More than 475,000 of those were in Illinois and another 400,000-plus were in Iowa.
"It's one of the worst storms we've seen in terms of total number of customers impacted," MidAmerican Energy spokesperson Tina Hoffman told the Des Moines Register.
Hoffman said all of the utility's crews are working on repairs and it has asked for help from crews outside the area.
"There is a lot of damage, and unfortunately this is not something that can be repaired very quickly," Hoffman said. "This is going to be a multiday restoration effort. It's going to be a while."
In a span of 14 hours, the derecho moved from far southeastern South Dakota into Ohio – a distance of about 770 miles, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. A derecho is a widespread wind damage event caused by severe thunderstorms.
Iowa
The storms arrived in the Des Moines area late Monday morning, bringing torrential rain and dangerous straight-line winds.
Roof damage was reported at Buccaneer Arena, the home of the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League, in Urbandale.
At least three tractor-trailers crashed on Interstate 35 and snarled traffic in the Des Moines area, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. At one point Interstate 35 was closed in both directions between Ames and Alleman, and Interstate 680 was closed between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City because of the severe weather, the department said.
Between Des Moines and Ames, social media reports showed overturned vehicles and at least one home with severe roof damage.
The fierce winds flattened corn and soybean fields around Mark Licht's home north of Ames, Iowa. He told the Register the soybeans looked as if they would stand back up and recover, but he was unsure if the corn would survive.
Matt Carstens, CEO of the farmer-owned Landus agricultural cooperative in Ames, said flattened corn could recover if it's just lying down and not broken at the root.
“If it’s snapped, it’s done at that point,” Carstens told the Register. “It’s the difference between a sprained ankle and broken leg.”
Corn plants, blown over by an intense derecho storm, lay in a field on Monday, August 10, 2020, near Polo, Illinois.“While we’re unable to quantify the number of acres lost at this time, we’re hearing of widespread crop damage,” Keely Coppess, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, said. “We’re also aware of commercial and on-farm grain storage losses, which may affect storage capacity during harvest.”
In the early afternoon, the storms reached Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where wind gusts above 70 mph were reported nearby. The storms left several structures damaged in the city.
Cedar Rapids officials enacted a citywide curfew from 10 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday and said it would continue until further notice, the Des Moines Register reported. Officials in Iowa City also asked residents to remain at home.
Additional damage was reported elsewhere in Iowa – buildings were damaged in Newton, a grain elevator was destroyed in Luther and a 2x4 punctured through a home in Perry.
In Marshalltown, Iowa, 100 to 120 cars had their windows blown out at a factory. Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer declared a civil emergency, telling residents to stay home and off the streets so first responders could respond to calls, according to the AP.
Three of the Iowa's eight mobile coronavirus testing sites — in Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport — were closed temporarily Tuesday because of storm damage, AP reported.
A John Deere tractor sits under a collapsed building after a derecho on Monday, August 10, 2020, near Franklin Grove, Illinois. The storm moved across the Midwest with winds recorded near 100 mph in Iowa and Illinois.Illinois
The National Weather Service tweeted Monday evening that "much of northern Illinois has pockets of damage with downed trees, debris, and power lines blocking roadways." Tornado warnings were issued for many Illinois counties as the derecho roared through the area.
In the village of Forreston, about 28 miles southwest of Rockford, officials said five people were taken to a hospital after the storm. They did not provide details on their injuries.
Two mobile home parks in Forreston were hit with major damage.
"It's basically just total devastation. It's totally gone," Forreston's fire chief Robert Meyers told WREX. "And there were a few houses too that received damage but as far as the trailer park, they're all basically gone."
Village officials were working out of the fire station on Tuesday because the Village Hall still had no power, according to a Facebook post.
A wind gust of 92 mph was recorded near Dixon, Illinois, about 100 miles west of Chicago, the NWS said.
La Salle and Bureau counties reported widespread damage, according to the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A fallen tree trapped motorists near the Matthiessen State Park entrance east of Oglesby, Illinois. All trails at Matthiessen and Starved Rock State Park were closed Tuesday because of damage, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said.
The Sheriff's Offices in McHenry and Lake counties reported downed trees and power lines were making roads impassable.
The fire chief in Rockford, Illinois, said at least 150 power poles were damaged across the city after the storms moved through. Tree damage also occurred. WIFR reported that hundreds of homes were damaged by falling trees.
Trees were snapped off at the bases in Yorkville, Illinois, Monday afternoon as the storms pushed eastward.
Winds over 70 mph resulted in uprooted trees farther east in New Lenox, Illinois, and flipped a boat in Gardner.
The NWS office in Chicago one tornado, confirmed by video, spun up in Rogers Park, Illinois, a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. The tornado became a waterspout as it moved out over Lake Michigan.
The Chicago Fire Department tweeted that downed power lines were causing "numerous fires" in the city.
Indiana
Damage extended into Indiana, where trees snapped and a tractor-trailer was blown over in Valparaiso. A wind gust of 70 mph was measured in Russiaville, Indiana, Monday evening.
Near Churubusco, Indiana, about 15 miles northwest of Fort Wayne, the winds flipped a car and damaged or destroyed camper trailers at the Blue Lake Campground, WPTA reported.
Storefronts were damaged in Kendallville.
North of Gary, Indiana, in Crown Point, the Sparta Dome deflated after the winds ripped two 10-15 feet holes in its side, managing member Jacqueline Chang-Stroman told The Times of Northwest Indiana. The facility wasn't occupied when it began deflating, she said.
A 64-year-old woman was taken to a hospital after a tree fell on her car in Hammond, Indiana, The Times reported. Details on her injuries were not available.
Firefighters from the Hobart Fire Department helped first responders in Lake Station, Indiana, rescue a man pinned to his couch after a tree fell on him home during the derecho storm on Monday, August 10, 2020. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported.A man was pinned to his couch and trapped when a large tree fell on his home in Lake Station, Indiana, The Times reported. Other people in the house were able to get out. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Several home in Lake Station were damaged and at least one lost a roof.
Elsewhere
Parts of Omaha had heavy damage, with downed trees littering roads and yards Monday morning.
A farm shed was destroyed in Lancaster, Wisconsin, and in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin, there was an estimated wind gust of 70 mph.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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