A Derecho hits the Midwest

A Derecho hits the Midwest

Simpson students are still impacted by the August 2020 Midwest Derecho.

By: Evan Burley Layout: Katie Burns

It began in southeast South Dakota and eastern Nebraska. In the span of 14 hours, the August 2020 Midwest Derecho moved over 700 miles, stretching across Iowa, Indiana, and parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.

A derecho is a severe windstorm caused by thunderstorm clusters during hot, humid weather conditions. Frequently compared to inland hurricanes, Derechos are characterized by high speed winds, torrential rainfall, hail, tornadoes and flooding. Moving in a straight line, they are capable of causing wind damage extending over 240 miles at 58 mph.

The damage was so extensive and widespread, in fact, the office of Iowa governor Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for over 25 counties, activating the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program.

Former President Donald Trump also approved a declaration of a major disaster in Iowa, ordering federal assistance to aid in the recovery process.

On top of living through a pandemic, civil unrest, and growing political tension, there are Simpson students who are still impacted by the derecho’s extensive damage, even in the months afterward. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, business management and health services leadership student Abby Ruby was with her grandmother when the derecho hit.

“Over the summer, I take care of my great grandma,” Ruby said. “With COVID, my family needed extra help. My stepdad has health problems, so I stay with [my great grandma] during the summer. I was with my grandma and we just finished eating lunch. Then the power went out, and I thought, ‘Oh, it should be fine.’ I didn’t know it was gonna be that bad.”

According to Ruby, the southwest side of Cedar Rapids was hit first and hit harder. Her grandmother’s area --the northwest side--was able to recover quicker, with power returning after three days. Residents of southwestern Cedar Rapids waited for a week and a half, leaving residents unable to contact family members and making resources--such as medical supplies and gas--difficult to obtain. For Ruby, being unable to comply with Simpson College’s mandatory COVID-19 check-ins and unable to purchase textbooks created an added stressor.

“I don’t want to like bash Simpson. But maybe saying, ‘You need to take time off. We understand. We get you can’t leave your family with all this wreckage if you don’t have that financial stability to do so’ would help,” said Ruby. “You might have to help your mom because she might have a disability where she can’t clean up the yard and that could take a lot of time. And the city isn’t going to clean up your yard; you have to do that yourself. It’s one of those things where you don’t know someone or what goes on in their house. You can’t assume they can just come back to school in a week.”

Ruby advised other students to plan and prepare for future disasters, be it by investing in supplies or planning ahead for problems that may arise.

“Go out and buy a $1000 or $1,500 generator. I know it seems like a lot of money at that time, but when things like that happen you don’t have that flexibility anymore,” said Ruby. “Keep like an emergency stash of water and canned goods because once your refrigerator goes out you can’t save that food. Keep propane--because I was having to grill up everything on propane--and I recommend keeping an emergency fund of cash. I don’t care if you don’t use any of it in 20 years, right? You just never know what is going to happen.”

Marshalltown, Iowa--home to human services and sociology double major Faithyna Leonard--was another area hit hard by the derecho.

“I went over to my cousin’s,” Leonard said, “and her and I were in the basement because she works from home right now with COVID. We were sitting in the basement, talking in between her calls, when all of a sudden the power started flickering, then went completely out.

We were stuck under the basement stairs--it’s an old house, over 100 years old--and we didn’t know if they were gonna fall or not. We had windows everywhere in the basement, so there was worry about glass and everything.”

Adding to the stress, Marshalltown was hit by an EF-3 tornado back in July 2018 and, according to Leonard, the town still has not recovered after losing many of its businesses.

“It was really disheartening,” Leonard said, “because I was like packing for school when people still didn’t have power in town. It sucks being back at school when back home there’s still a bunch of damage. People still have trees in their front yards, and it seems like it’s never ending. We have so much damage happening to the town. [Marshalltown is] still trying to recover from one natural disaster and now we just throw another one on top of it.”

As Leonard said, the damage done to Marshalltown before the derecho was already severe. Sites like the telecommunication center, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the local gym still are not fully repaired. Local cultural sites and businesses were also lost, with some business owners permanently closing their doors. Above all, according to Leonard, because a severe natural disaster already struck the area residents’ insurance was raised, with high risk being cited as the reason. This has led to people selling their businesses to afford the increase.

Now in the wake of the derecho, Leonard says park cleanup is high on the agenda. It is especially important for the children in the community, lowering the rate of youth-involved crime in the area; however, the local park has largely been damaged, and repair efforts are costly. In the meantime, Leonard encourages fellow students to reach out to Senator Joni Earnst to apply more pressure to support communities like Marshalltown.

“I also think if you call the city you can donate money to Marshalltown,” Leonard said.

Those funds get distributed, and right now we are looking for funds to do the cleanup. To clean up one tree can cost $700, and we have probably about 20 to 30 down in one park so that’s going to add up. And that’s before we can even do damage repair. Even if you just contact the city and ask like, ‘Hey, can I volunteer for this weekend to come help with cleanup?’ I’m sure they would have no problem with that.”