topic Re: Derecho storm in Community Chat

Derecho storm

CalminHeart — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 10:51:22 GMT

the derecho hit my state hard this week. It looks like a war zone.

I went 3 days without power and that was nothing compared to so many in this state. We still have 127,000+ without power.
80-112 mile per hour winds in my Midwest state.
all the food in my deep freeze and refrigerator ruined.
found my deck furniture 4 yards down.
my medium sized debris covers the area between the sidewalk and street across the front of 3 properties. Piles range from 3' to 5' high.
i have huge 18" limbs completely broken and now balancing across the top of trees. I have huge limbs 10-14" diameter limbs hanging by a thread. A good wind will knock them down...and probably on neighboring sheds and homes.
i have tons of twigs and small debris that has to be raked up. It'd take me a month and very sore back to pick it up.
Thousands of acres of farm fields were destroyed. Grain bins destroyed.
so many homes and buildings across the state were destroyed
internet is still out in most parts of the state.

In my 66 years, this is the worse storm I've seen. It makes 24" of snow with high winds seem like a breeze.

Re: Derecho storm

VaBelle35 — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 11:04:06 GMT

We had one in the DC area maybe 10 years ago? It is quick and deadly.

I had never heard of it before then.

Prayers to you and your neighbors that you get through it quickly.

Re: Derecho storm

Susan-QVC — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 11:55:32 GMT

@VaBelle35 wrote:

We had one in the DC area maybe 10 years ago? It is quick and deadly.

I had never heard of it before then.

Prayers to you and your neighbors that you get through it quickly.

@VaBelle35 I remember that one, hubby & I were caught out driving, it was like an action movie playing out, transformers blowing, it was something I had never expirenced before, super scary

Re: Derecho storm

dooBdoo — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:14:01 GMT

I'm sorry, @CalminHeart. That's so frightening. I'm glad you're okay... I think we can't go through such an experience without being changed, but we summon up what gratitude we can find and forge ahead with hope. Prayers for you and everyone affected by the scary weather. (((hugs)))

Re: Derecho storm

4kitties — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 12:33:14 GMT

@CalminHeart

I live in Central Illinois and we got some of it too. But nothing like what happened to Iowa.

It hit us so very quickly. All of a sudden WIND!! Took out a lot of mature trees in my area. We lost a few large branches and a smaller dead tree to the back of our property. No structural damage for me. Lost power for about 4 hours. Not much rain but that WIND!

A few years back an F4 tornado took out a good portion of a small city nearby. I know how devastating it was.

My thoughts and prayers for all impacted by this storm. 💕💕

Re: Derecho storm

songbird — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 12:56:09 GMT

The firs time I ever heard the word was in 2015 when a Derecho slammed in to my state. Three straight lines of supercell storms arrayed neatly, perfectly placed lines of them. Then the lines would "bow" out in the middle. Even the thunder sounded different. Instead of rumbling, they were sharp bangs. Like a giant gun. Bang, bang, etc. It was just about the only time I was frightened of a storm since I was a little kid. Later I head what it was and that it happens sometimes in the mid west. It's somewhat rare once you're past the two vertical mountain ranges (Rockies & Appalachians) But it can happen anywhere. this is straight wind shear as opposed to rotating winds that form tornado. one thing for sure...North America has the most violent weather in the world.

This is a typlcial Derecho

Re: Derecho storm

dooBdoo — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:14:28 GMT

I'm glad you're okay, but sorry you had to go through this, @4kitties.❤️

Re: Derecho storm

Kachina624 — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 15:41:46 GMT

@CalminHeart It's very sad to hear about the devastation you've suffered. I heard about the storm on TV but nobody else here has mentioned having been in it. Can you hire someone to get the broken branches down and help with the clean up? We really didn't need another disaster this year. Seems like it's been one thing after another.

Sounds as though you're not too "calm in the heart" right now.

Re: Derecho storm

cyan — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:08:23 GMT

We had a Derecho here in my part of Michigan in 1998. Thankfully have not had one since,but just hearing the word mentioned, panics me. We missed getting hit by the one last week by a couple hundred miles!

In 1998, we had huge oak tree limbs down all over the place, it did look like a war zone. We were without power for 8 days.........I pray I never see another one!

My prayers and thoughts are with everyone that went thru this last one......I know your pain!

Re: Derecho storm

4kitties — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:40:23 GMT

@dooBdoo

Thank you. My area was lucky and was minimally impacted. But Iowa truly suffered the worst of it. When it got to Illinois, mostly the northern half of the state was hit. We were kind of on the southern edge of it.

And we did not suffer the long power outages like @CalminHeart did. Mr. 4 kitties and I got all the twigs, leaves and branches cleaned up so we are okay now.

The poor farmers sure had a lot of crop damage.

Re: Derecho storm

cowboy sam — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:44:35 GMT

I was also in this one...

but Iowa got hit first..as it moved into my state...

it hit 12 miles East from me had storm hit first plus east part of that town had a tornado!

M y daughter called me on her cell to advise it hit there no electrcity,etc,lots of damage and it was headed my away and would hit my town very soon...got off the phone just as the winds came!

Wow! I'm not going to complain about tree damage,etc...as other towns were really hit hard!

The town where daughter and a son lives but different side of that town...have electricty now..but cable and internet came onbackThursday(yesterday)!

(Mine only blinked and came right

back on...in my town)

Thank goodness no lives were lost!

Cars,etc can be replaced...aged trees after cleaned up can be replaced!

Re: Derecho storm

fortune — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 03:47:58 GMT

@VaBelle35 wrote:
We had one in the DC area maybe 10 years ago? It is quick and deadly.

I had never heard of it before then.

Prayers to you and your neighbors that you get through it quickly.

@VaBelle35

My son's house was hit by this storm. All the trees on his property were downed! It looked like the end of the world!!!

Re: Derecho storm

Mersha — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 04:06:26 GMT

@VaBelle35 wrote:
We had one in the DC area maybe 10 years ago? It is quick and deadly.

I had never heard of it before then.

Prayers to you and your neighbors that you get through it quickly.

@VaBelle35 I had never heard of a "derecho" before that one in my DC area either.

I remember it came in late on a Friday night. The wind howled like a train coming through and all of the trees on the street, including the large ones, were bent over and touching the ground.

People were without power for days during one of the hottest times during the summer. The devastation was awful.

It is like a cross between a hurricane and tornado...at least it felt like it. If you hear that type of storm on any forecast, run to a basement or safe inside room.

Re: Derecho storm

dooBdoo — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:00:34 GMT

@4kitties wrote:
@dooBdoo

Thank you. My area was lucky and was minimally impacted. But Iowa truly suffered the worst of it. When it got to Illinois, mostly the northern half of the state was hit. We were kind of on the southern edge of it.

And we did not suffer the long power outages like @CalminHeart did. Mr. 4 kitties and I got all the twigs, leaves and branches cleaned up so we are okay now.

The poor farmers sure had a lot of crop damage.

You're welcome, @4kitties. I feel so terrible for all involved. It seems like just when everyone is trying to settle and manage one set of challenges others -- big ones -- crop up.😢

Re: Derecho storm

dooBdoo — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:02:33 GMT

I'm glad you're okay, too, @cowboy sam. Continued prayers for all.❤️

Re: Derecho storm

Snoopp — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 13:49:13 GMT

We once had a terrible ice storm and when you were outdoors, you could hear the trees dropping in the woods every few minutes. The weight just knocked them down like a feather.

Re: Derecho storm

VaBelle35 — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 13:54:42 GMT

@Mersha wrote:
@VaBelle35 wrote:
We had one in the DC area maybe 10 years ago? It is quick and deadly.

I had never heard of it before then.

Prayers to you and your neighbors that you get through it quickly.

@VaBelle35 I had never heard of a "derecho" before that one in my DC area either.

I remember it came in late on a Friday night. The wind howled like a train coming through and all of the trees on the street, including the large ones, were bent over and touching the ground.

People were without power for days during one of the hottest times during the summer. The devastation was awful.

It is like a cross between a hurricane and tornado...at least it felt like it. If you hear that type of storm on any forecast, run to a basement or safe inside room.

That's how I described it as well.

Re: Derecho storm

songbird — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 14:00:17 GMT

@VaBelle35 The Derecho is different then a tornado. It's a straight line wind shear. A wind shear can make just as much damage as a tornado. They occur most frequently in the Mid West, but can happen anywhere.

Re: Derecho storm

VaBelle35 — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 14:01:43 GMT

@songbird Thanks.

What I meant was, when describing it to people, it felt like a combination of both. Fast like a tornado, intense like a hurricane.

Re: Derecho storm

songbird — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 14:06:40 GMT

@VaBelle35 wrote:
@songbird Thanks.

What I meant was, when describing it to people, it felt like a combination of both. Fast like a tornado, intense like a hurricane.

The only consolation is they move quickly. The seem to hang around for ever when they are on top of you. It's just that is several lines of storms coming quickly one after another. I personally think they are worse then a tornado. Thankfully, they don't happen as much as tronado