Monday marks six years since Cedar Rapids took the hardest hit from the August 10, 2020 derecho, the costliest thunderstorm in U.S. history. The storm tore across the Midwest and left a scar that is still visible in the city’s streets, trees and power grid.
That is why the search for this derecho storm returns now. People in Cedar Rapids are still living with the aftermath of a day when winds reached 140 miles per hour and kept hammering the city for 45 minutes or longer, damaging every square mile and affecting every resident. The storm destroyed or damaged more than 100,000 trees and stripped away over 60 percent of Cedar Rapids’ tree canopy, a loss measured by comparing the number of trees and canopy coverage before the storm with what remained afterward.
The damage was not confined to one city. The storm began as a cluster of thunderstorms in South Dakota and raced along a 770-mile track to Ohio, causing an estimated $7.5 billion in damage between those two states. Cedar Rapids was the place where the wind hit with the most force, but Iowa paid a deadly price too. Three Iowans died.
Among them was Chris Keller, a utility worker for the city of Brooklyn, who was killed when downed power lines electrocuted him. Samantha Wierson, a volunteer firefighter and EMS worker, died when a tree fell on her home in Malcom. Thomas Rowland, 63, was riding his bike on a trail near Ely Road and Wright Brothers Boulevard when, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said, a falling tree struck him.
The storm also left Cedar Rapids dark and isolated. Residents were without power for a week or more, and cellular and internet outages made communication extremely difficult at the moment people needed it most. In the days that followed, community members came together to clear debris and begin rebuilding, but the city is still working through one of the most visible losses.
That unfinished part is the point of the anniversary. Cedar Rapids is planting tens of thousands of new trees, yet the canopy that was lost in 2020 has not been fully restored. Six years on, the derecho is no longer a fresh disaster, but it is still an open recovery.
