‘Derecho’ leaves swath of devastation
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A rare wind storm with power similar to an inland hurricane swept across the Midwest on Monday, blowing over trees, flipping cars, causing widespread property damage and leaving thousands powerless.
The storm known as a derecho lasted several hours as it tore across eastern Nebraska, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin, had the wind speed of a major hurricane, and likely caused more widespread damage than a normal tornado, said Patrick Marsh of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma.
It’s not quite a hurricane. It has no eye and its winds come across in a line. But the damage it is likely to do spread over such a large area is more like an inland hurricane than a quick, more powerful tornado, Marsh said. He compared it to a devastating Super Derecho of 2009.
“This is our version of a hurricane,” Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini said in an interview from his home about 15 minutes before the storm was about to hit. Minutes later, he headed to his basement for safety as the storm took aim at Chicago, starting with its suburbs.
Gensini said this derecho will go down as one of the strongest in recent history and be one of the worst weather events of 2020 for the nation.
Several people were injured and widespread property damage was reported in in central Iowa after 100 mph winds swept through the area, said its homeland security co-ordinator Kim Elder.