It has been two months since the derecho roared through Iowa. Before the Aug 10 derecho, we enjoyed a nice wooded area behind our house. The shade and filtered light was calming and peaceful. The windstorm change all that in 45 minutes with winds over 100 mph.
After derecho #1
After derecho #2
After many hours of hand sawing and dragging fallen limbs to the curb, much of the ground was visible again. The city took those branches away. We were still left with 5 trees that had not fallen all the way to the ground. It was not safe to be near them. We hired a man with a chainsaw to come help us finish dropping those trees. He cut up the branches and trunks into sizes we could handle.
Today, I recorded this short video as I walked through the same wooded area pictured above. It is discouraging. But, we are making progress. Things will grow back. We can plant new trees.
The insurance company did come through to help with house damages. They did an EFT into our account which nearly pays for the entire roof and gutter replacements. Now we wait our turn for the jobs to be done. We are hopeful the roof will be replaced before winter. The gutter company said it will be spring.
Many people to our north in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area suffered much more damage than we did. We still have a home to live in. Many of them don’t. Crews are still working hard to clear trees and rebuild homes. We hope the rest of the year is quiet for them.
From Wikipedia:
The August 2020 Midwest derecho delivered a maximum measured wind speed of 126 mph, with damage-estimated speeds as high as 140 mph in the Cedar Rapids area. The storm spawned 17 confirmed tornados across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Ten million acres of crops were damaged or destroyed, accounting for roughly a third of the state of Iowa’s agricultural area. Over a million homes across the Midwest were without basic services such as water and electricity.
Our View From Iowa 
Well, I couldn’t click “like.” You were hit so much harder than the Des Moines area. Bet it really changed your canopy of trees, too. What a disaster for so many folks.
Yes. The like button seems wrong, doesn’t it?
Wow, that’s a lot of trees down. Do you have a fire place or wood stove?
Makes the microburst we had last night with 70 mph winds look like nothing.
Hope your roof gets done before the snow flies.
We don’t have a wood burning fireplace or stove. The guy who lives farther back behind us has even more wood from downed trees. He has a nice firepit. It would take him decades to burn all his wood. We hope the roof gets fixed before then, too. Thank you.
Just yesterday I was looking at an aerial photo of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with all of the blue tarps stretched across roofs because of damage from Laura. Now, they’re getting it again, with Delta. The 4 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 120 mph — your drecho was an inland hurricane, minus the rotation.
The good news is that recovery will come, but it will take the passage of time and a whole lot of patience. It also takes the availability of supplies, like plywood and sheet rock, and the complications of the pandemic have been affecting those as well, both in terms of production and holes in the distribution network. Infrastructure takes time, too. Hurricane Laura also was an August storm — the 29th — and in some areas the estimated time for restoration of power is sometime in November: maybe. An acquaintance from near Morgan City says there’s a substantial area where transmission lines are who-knows-where, and the poles have been snapped like toothpicks for miles.
I’m so glad your home still is livable. I presume Melanie’s quilting supplies came through unscathed — I certainly hope so! As for those downed trees, you may be surprised at what other plants appear, because of increased sunlight.
I feel bad for those LA residents. It would be a hard thing to face up the approaching storm. I would be asking ‘why me?’ My nephew lives there. His pictures and descriptions were graphic.
The contractors and suppliers here are saying supplies are hard to find and slow to be delivered. Costs are higher, too.
The quilting supplies were safe. Power was out only 15 hrs. We were lucky. Freezer and frig contents were safe.
Thanks for your visit and comments.
Jenean has some prairie seeds you could try in the more sunny areas. Maybe scatter a few this Fall? It definitely looks better than it did a few days after the storms.
Thanks. We could try that in a couple of bright spots.
A lot of firewood there. I too would have called in an arborist. Some of those leaners are dangerous. Most were too high to tackle. Proof that owning a chainsaw isn’t a big deal.
Sorry to hear about this and good luck with the clean up.
Thank you.
Great post, thanks Jim.
I’m glad you stopped by.