Have you heard of this? (Storm)

[BlsdMama]

It's circulating that the rest of the US is not hearing how significantly the Midwest got hit by the derecho - the freak storm being labeled "land hurricane."  Is that true? 
There was a delay between the mayor requesting help for Cedar Rapids, IA - no freaking idea what he was thinking so the National Guard began arriving Saturday.  The storm was Monday.  The utility companies reached out and the amount of out of state (and Canada) companies that came to the rescue makes you want to cry.    My dd got electric back last night.  

So, did you hear? Is it hitting national news?  CR had a major flood in 2008 and they are saying this is far worse.  It hit.... well, everyone.  It was mostly trees, but the trees hit stuff on the way down.  The estimates are 40,000 trees according to a fella on NPR that spoke to the CR forester.  

[BlsdMama]

Clarification - the 40k trees is JUST for the CR area and suburbs.

[QueenCat]

The main thing I've seen is from a friend in Iowa. She said that it's far more severe in some areas than people realize and that the lack of a productive federal response has made it more difficult. 

[mom2scouts]

I did see one brief story about it somewhere, but I remember thinking, "Hurricane in Iowa?" and wondering if it was even a true story. When I read news, I read many different websites to overcome the bias, so I can't remember where I saw it, but it's definitely not being widely reported.

[Pen]

 

Yes. Was on news, (West Coast).  But it has left news prominence due to other weather issues primarily fires with 60 mph winds.  Has your area heard of that?  I think often places have a focus on current and more local regional weather issues. 

And similar to “land hurricane” being unusual, this morning a “fire tornado” in California was getting some attention. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Pen

[klmama]

I'm also in the Midwest, and the only thing I saw in the news was a local photo of an enormous fallen tree that had been uprooted by the winds.  Hmmm... And I haven't seen anything about fires.  Off to look.  Maybe I'm just scanning the news and missing things???  I don't watch tv news; I just read online.

Edited August 17, 2020 by klmama

[Pawz4me]

I've read and seen considerable coverage of it. But I consume a huge variety of news sources. I can't contextualize 40k trees as to whether that's a lot or not. Also depends on how large of an area? I mean we get tons of trees down here during routine storms--there are two down in my small neighborhood just from a run-of-the-mill storm Friday night, plus there were considerable numbers of people w/o power due to other downed trees in the area--but we live in an area with LOTS of trees and it happens so routinely that no one thinks much about it.

ETA: I hope things get cleaned up and cleared up quickly, and that the farmers who lost their corn (or other?) crops are able to get some help. I guess the main reason there's less coverage is because it's a relatively low population area?

Edited August 17, 2020 by Pawz4me

[Lady Florida.]

I saw one small story, oddly enough on a political site I frequent. The person who talked about it there was from the area and upset it wasn't getting coverage. After that I had to search for it on news sites, and it's not easy to find. 

[EKS]

18 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

So, did you hear?

I heard yesterday afternoon from my son who told me that the storm destroyed half of Iowa's corn crop and that it wasn't being picked up by major news outlets.  We are in the Seattle area.

[stephanier.1765]

I heard here and on Facebook. It was finally on the news here last night along with a story about the CA fires.

[itsheresomewhere]

DH is in the construction industry.  We are hearing about this more than the news has talked about it.  Companies are sending out messages about the need for electricians and other industries.  Otherwise, very little on the news about it. 

[Susan in TX]

I haven't seen any news coverage of this. I wasn't even aware that it happened. I usually check CNNs website daily. I have seen coverage of the CA fires and the fire tornado but nothing about Iowa or a Land Hurricane.

Susan in TX

[J-rap]

I didn't hear about it, but I admit that although I'm pretty good about keeping up the news, I had a lot going on this past week so missed a lot of it.

[happi duck]

We were hit by the same storm so local stuff dominated.  I found out about Iowa from a friend with loved ones in CR. 

[BlsdMama]

5 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Yes. Was on news, (West Coast).  But it has left news prominence due to other weather issues primarily fires with 60 mph winds.  Has your area heard of that?  I think often places have a focus on current and more local regional weather issues. 

 

Pen,

I don't think our immediate area has heard anything.  I did see something on firenadoes yesterday on my phone.  But, honestly? We had Cat 2 hurricane winds for an hour in an area that had sirens right before it hit.  There were no warnings on our phones or anything so none of the normal prep work a hurricane area would have to prepare.  We aren't seeing the news right now.  Many are still without electric.  We were some of the first to get back service and that was Thursday afternoon.  I was shocked.  Even then we didn't have internet until Saturday and, again, that was shockingly efficient.  

Crops down - they are saying 1/3 of the crops will be impacted - largely used for ethanol and to feed animals.  This is going to impact the entire US through the food chain.  

DH and teens cleaned up DD's house because I couldn't navigate with a walker.  So I didn't really SEE it until Friday/Saturday.  We were helping friends on the outskirts and I was flabbergasted.  Electrical pole after electrical pole just snapped off about 3-6' above ground.  We went by an apartment building that looked like a dollhouse - missing the roof and one side of the building.  You could see the peoples' furniture set up just like a giant dollhouse.

For us? Not too much damage and family north - so we transported a freezer and our frozen food there.  DD? Insurance claims on the van and property that they closed on on the 22nd of July!  Family came and helped with their clean-up.  

I guess I figured folks were just really upset about the time things were taking and not that it really wasn't covered.  I remember the heavy coverage the flooding received but the impact here is SO widespread.  

[Scarlett]

I heard about it on a Bear site I am on on FB.  I have never even heard of a derecho and I thought it was a typo.  I can't recall hearing it on any other news I have listened to.  Politics and Covid seems to dominate at the moment.

[Spryte]

It was reported on NPR almost immediately.  
 

I don’t consume any video news - only read a huge variety of sources and some streaming radio, and I’ve seen it reported quite a bit,

 

Oh.  And The Weather Channel app absolutely covered it, though I don’t click most of their links.  
 

ETA:  the word derecho got my attention, so I noted it.  My mom’s house was hit by a derecho years ago, it was a mess.  

Edited August 17, 2020 by Spryte

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have heard about it quite a bit in national print news. Don’t know about tv because I haven’t been watching. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

I did hear about the derecho, but I watch a lot of The Weather Channel.  I think it's kind of a local thing, though.  Like, Hurricane Hanna was just at the end of July for my area, and we had power outages.  I would expect the people who lived in the derecho area to be the ones to have that more on their news.

I am sorry to hear about the devastation.  

[MEmama]

Yeah, it’s made some of the news sources that I read. Pete even tweeted about it. I’d never heard the term and haven’t seen it explained, how it was different than just a (destructive) storm. 

Like a PP, I’m not really clear if that’s a lot of trees or not; I’d guess where I live it might not be but in Iowa it’s probably different. I’ve never really seen many trees driving through Iowa. Lol. We routinely get storms that knock power out of big chunks of the state and do massive amounts of damage. I doubt the rest of the country hears much about them (other than the power companies that send help). 

Hope you were safe!

[Pen]

9 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

Pen,

I don't think our immediate area has heard anything.  I did see something on firenadoes yesterday on my phone.  But, honestly? We had Cat 2 hurricane winds for an hour in an area that had sirens right before it hit.  There were no warnings on our phones or anything so none of the normal prep work a hurricane area would have to prepare.  We aren't seeing the news right now.  Many are still without electric.  We were some of the first to get back service and that was Thursday afternoon.  I was shocked.  Even then we didn't have internet until Saturday and, again, that was shockingly efficient.  

Crops down - they are saying 1/3 of the crops will be impacted - largely used for ethanol and to feed animals.  This is going to impact the entire US through the food chain.  

DH and teens cleaned up DD's house because I couldn't navigate with a walker.  So I didn't really SEE it until Friday/Saturday.  We were helping friends on the outskirts and I was flabbergasted.  Electrical pole after electrical pole just snapped off about 3-6' above ground.  We went by an apartment building that looked like a dollhouse - missing the roof and one side of the building.  You could see the peoples' furniture set up just like a giant dollhouse.

For us? Not too much damage and family north - so we transported a freezer and our frozen food there.  DD? Insurance claims on the van and property that they closed on on the 22nd of July!  Family came and helped with their clean-up.  

I guess I figured folks were just really upset about the time things were taking and not that it really wasn't covered.  I remember the heavy coverage the flooding received but the impact here is SO widespread.  

 

There is so much one thing after another.

It was in the news, yes, though probably nowhere near in as much detail as it deserves, but there was so much else as well.  I think the really big story still getting headlines when the hurricane hit Midwest was the Beirut explosion. 

I also think the way a lot of us get news has changed, no longer a newspaper with local, regional, national, world sections and perhaps an article each given to a bunch of things (still missing a lot of course), but instead now in online systems where it is easy to get into information bubbles with deluge of information (or misinformation) on just a few topics. And where prior searches or prior clicks may change what we are fed as “headlines” further causing bubbled selective information phenomena. 

[Pen]

 

I am sorry for all your losses and devastation.

And I think we are all concerned about world food situation, and everything that is adding to that.

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I haven’t heard much about it on the news, but have friends that live there so have seen it a lot on facebook.

Our church body has a disaster relief function with boots on the ground there, but the damage is so extreme and widespread that the locals helping locals thing is harder in the badly hit places than usual.  It’s just awful.  Plus I’m hearing that it was freakishly sudden—no significant time to prepare at all; which makes things a lot harder afterwards.  

I don’t think it’s being covered on the news commensurate with the devastation.

[Pawz4me]

I remember one night last week the ABC national news had good coverage of it. I distinctly remember it because DH was watching, too. I'd told him about it but those were the first images he'd seen of it, and he was shocked at how bad it looked.

[BlsdMama]

I was just informed it hit the Today show this AM.

 

i think 40,000 trees is not a lot - unless it’s urban. So, that didn’t count outlying rural areas where one place alone might hit a hundred trees. In the city though? I don’t think you could walk four houses without at least one tree down. I’ve seen tornadoes do far less damage because they only hit smaller areas generally, kwim? I have a far deeper appreciation for those of you who live in hurricane states. I really can’t imagine. 

[Selkie]

I know all about it, but that's because I am right across the border in Illinois. We feel so lucky to have only gotten heavy rain and not the terrible winds. 

[Corraleno]

There was a long, detailed article in The Washington Post the day after it happened, with photos, video, illustrations explaining what a derecho is, etc. It was also covered on NPR and the national TV stations (NBC, CBS, etc.) I assume it was on Fox. I don't think the issue is that it wasn't covered, I think a lot of people may not know about it because they just don't get their news from traditional news sites anymore, so if it doesn't pop up on FB they may not hear about it. I think the complaints about it "not being covered" are more about the fact that it hasn't continued to be covered, even though the damage has continued to affect people's lives. And I think the main reason there isn't continuing coverage is that there is just so much else going on that things like the derecho and the fires in CA are just not going to stay on the front page after the initial coverage. WaPo did do a follow-up on the 14th about the damage in Cedar Rapids.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Corraleno

[BlsdMama]

17 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

 Plus I’m hearing that it was freakishly sudden—no significant time to prepare at all; which makes things a lot harder afterwards.  

We were having a picnic. Smh. 
 

We looked at the radar in the AM because we knew there were scattered storms. Told DH we should be fine until 1:00ish. So we went on a picnic. 
 

The sirens began to sound when the rain started and that was odd - it wasn’t tornado weather?? Texted a friend in Des Moines and she had moved here about 18 months ago from Siuth Carolina. She texted back that she had just driven home through the worst storm of her life. I thought that was weird but the rain was letting up so we had moved from one side of the park (like large campground, not playground) to the other so it looked like the rain was past and we let the kids play. The lightning began and we thought we could hear sirens in the distance. We looked up and saw a storm moving in and it was so heavy that we loaded the kids up. 
 

It hit about five minutes later. We couldn’t see the road in front of us. We pulled into a stranger’s driveway where they had a small shed built close to the drive and it took the brunt of the wind because our vehicle is high profile. It was really something. But, no, that was it for warnings. Our phones never alarmed, etc. and I had been on the local news website for weather late in the AM. 

[Mary in VA]

I read about it online shortly after it happened, but I read a lot of online news sources.  I probably noticed it more than I normally would have because we were hit with one in 2012.  It began in Illinois and crossed Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, DC, Maryland and New Jersey.  There were 22 people killed and $2.9 billion in damage. It was absolutely freaky! Glad you are all okay!

[TravelingChris]

58 minutes ago, happi duck said:

We were hit by the same storm so local stuff dominated.  I found out about Iowa from a friend with loved ones in CR. 

What state happi duck?   

[Storygirl]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-hurting-derecho-storm-recovery/

The above national news article was posted today. I check national news websites daily and had heard of the storm from headlines, but I had not clicked on articles to read them before now. So it is getting some national coverage, but it hasn't been a story at the top of the headlines. I bet there are many people, like me, who have heard that there was a derecho but didn't know details. I don't watch the news on tv, generally, so I don't know how it's been covered there.

[TravelingChris]

Yes, I heard about it.  I get weather channel alerts about natural disasters (and even unnatural since they also alerted me to Beirut explosion.  I learned about derocho with the one that occured in 2012.    Our local news covered it in weather, explaining what a derocho is and talking about the disaster.  Then I also heard about it on Fox news, I think- or maybe I was just alerted by them.  
 

As to widespread utter devastation stories not being told - I am thinking about Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 hurricane that was the strongest since Hurricane Andrew almost 30 years earlier that got almost zero coverage.  Then I know that the Louisiana flooding of Baton Rouge and much of the area around there (more widespread than I am describing but I am not familiar with exactly how far it spread).  Then Hurricane Harvey got a lot of coverage of what happened in Houston but that resolved a lot by a few months.  I know that our youth group was planning to travel to Eastern TX which had far more extensive damage and destruction from that Hurricane Harvey and that was 2 years ago but of course, COVID stopped the trip.

[YaelAldrich]

I heard about it through friends in Iowa on FB and a little on the news.  I was in DC for the derecho in 2012 and it was also that sudden.  It was a regular storm then whoosh!  everything went sideways.  Power was out for 3-4 days in our area and trees and light buildings crushed.  Hope your area recovers from the storm soon.

[Lady Florida.]

34 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

There was a long, detailed article in The Washington Post the day after it happened, with photos, video, illustrations explaining what a derecho is, etc. It was also covered on NPR and the national TV stations (NBC, CBS, etc.) I assume it was on Fox. I don't think the issue is that it wasn't covered, I think a lot of people may not know about it because they just don't get their news from traditional news sites anymore, so if it doesn't pop up on FB they may not hear about it. I think the complaints about it "not being covered" are more about the fact that it hasn't continued to be covered, even though the damage has continued to affect people's lives. And I think the main reason there isn't continuing coverage is that there is just so much else going on that things like the derecho and the fires in CA are just not going to stay on the front page after the initial coverage. WaPo did do a follow-up on the 14th about the damage in Cedar Rapids.

This is somewhat true for me, though I don't get my news from facebook. We don't have cable, and although we have an antenna for broadcast tv we don't watch the national news on tv anymore. We do watch local news but I haven't seen it covered. Mostly they've been talking about Covid and the storms out in the Atlantic that are not actually coming our way. I go to news sites every morning - CNN, NBC, BBC, and NPR. I also have my Google homepage aggregate news for me. It's very possible I checked my regular sites after it rolled off the front page. But after reading this thread I checked all of them. I scrolled down pretty far and NPR is the only one where I found the story. The political site Daily Kos is where I saw it yesterday. Someone from Cedar Rapids wrote a diary (that's what they call articles on DKos) about the lack of coverage. 

I don't have WaPo anymore so I can't get past their paywall.

[SKL]

I heard it first from an Iowan friend on fb.  Next I saw a fb post by DJT about it.  Since then one or two more fb friends have posted about it.

I don't recall whether it hit the national news eventually, but I definitely didn't see it on the news until well after the above-mentioned fb posts.  I check 2-4 news pages at least daily.

[Lanny]

OP I am in  South America. I read FoxNews.com  They have covered the "Derecho", extensively, during the past week or so. 100 million acres of agricultural land damaged in Iowa as I recall. I cannot speak to other news web sites or TV channels, but FoxNews has covered the "Derecho" with major top of the page articles.

[easypeasy]

I've heard a lot about it and I'm many, many states away. 
 

(I don't watch Fox News - I saw it first on a CNN link, iirc, and several sources since that time)

Edited August 17, 2020 by easypeasy

[HeartString]

I’ve heard about it and I mostly follow my own local news and what would be considered more liberal sources. I liked it better when they were calling it an inland hurricane, I have no context for what a derecho is.   It took me a few days to connect that they were the same event.  

 I’ve also seen people complaining that it’s not being covered. Which is sort of crazy. “Why is no one covering this event? Here let me attach a link to it being covered to prove it’s not being covered” 🙄

[Katy]

It was on CBS This Morning on at least last Tuesday and Wednesday, I haven't had time to watch the news beyond that.  It was sandwiched between bits about the election, the post office, and the fires in California and Colorado though so idk how much I might have caught if I wasn't paying extra attention.

ETA:  IME with family in Florida and watching numerous hurricanes hit Florida from all over the country it's gotten more coverage than most category 2-3 hurricanes more than a week after the fact.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Katy

[RootAnn]

Neighboring state that was also hit, but not where we live. Lots raising funds to help & sending power company help & such. So, yeah, it is being covered here.

I know the anger about being forgotten. There is still a lot of land under water around here from last spring's flooding caused by the bomb cyclone.

[mommyoffive]

I am in midwest and have not seen it in the news, but I don't watch the news and only read the newspaper.   We knew it from friends and family.  We didn't have any damage here.

[Frances]

I live in the PNW and read numerous articles about it both locally and in national publications. The one I recall most vividly was in the NYT because it included lots of pictures and mentioned the names of several towns I know. I don’t watch or listen to news. I didn’t hear anything about it from family in the midwest, but they are north of affected areas.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Frances

[rebcoola]

I've heard about it hear and from DH's relatives in Iowa.  But I haven't heard it on our news. Did  hear about the fire-tornado near Lake Tahoe though.

 

[AmandaVT]

4 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

It's circulating that the rest of the US is not hearing how significantly the Midwest got hit by the derecho - the freak storm being labeled "land hurricane."  Is that true? 
There was a delay between the mayor requesting help for Cedar Rapids, IA - no freaking idea what he was thinking so the National Guard began arriving Saturday.  The storm was Monday.  The utility companies reached out and the amount of out of state (and Canada) companies that came to the rescue makes you want to cry.    My dd got electric back last night.  

So, did you hear? Is it hitting national news?  CR had a major flood in 2008 and they are saying this is far worse.  It hit.... well, everyone.  It was mostly trees, but the trees hit stuff on the way down.  The estimates are 40,000 trees according to a fella on NPR that spoke to the CR forester.  

I watch the weather channel a lot, so I've been hearing a ton about it. MSNBC also covered it one night when DH was watching. And it's been all over weather twitter.  But I love weather stuff, so I tend to look for weather related stories.

[medawyn]

Obviously I’ve heard a lot about it since I have recent ties to the area, but I’ve also seen it mentioned on several print and video news sources.

FWIW, I understand the “no one is covering this” mentality, but it’s really hard to understand how horrific a major weather event can be if you are not on the ground.  I lived through the the most amazing ice storm in Oklahoma years ago; it felt like Armageddon in the city.  It was all consuming for those of us struggling without power and with extensive damage to trees/homes/vehicles.  There was national coverage, but it didn’t feel *enough* for those affected personally. I’m sure those in hurricane zones can relate to the fact that national coverage of weather disasters is fleeting compared to the effects of the storm.

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, Cnew02 said:

I’ve heard about it and I mostly follow my own local news and what would be considered more liberal sources. I liked it better when they were calling it an inland hurricane, I have no context for what a derecho is.   It took me a few days to connect that they were the same event.  

 I’ve also seen people complaining that it’s not being covered. Which is sort of crazy. “Why is no one covering this event? Here let me attach a link to it being covered to prove it’s not being covered” 🙄

Today -- this post was the first I'd heard.  Shortly afterward I saw a post on an AHG board wondering if any of our Iowa families were hurt by it and needed help and another post online talking about it.

But I didn't see anything all weekend so I can understand why the posts of "why isn't this being covered"

[KungFuPanda]

We know in central Maryland.
 

[Meriwether]

I was reading to the girls when the wind picked up. We stopped to watch the trees bending. We were either on the edge of the storm or it hadn't picked up speed yet, because it was just an extra windy bit of rain on our side of the state. I heard today that Cedar Rapids already has 1000 condemned homes from the storm.

[Ausmumof3]

I’m in Aus and I saw a headline about it and also an explainer on what is a derecho.   However I didn’t read it.  Maybe there’s just too much going on around the world full stop right now.

[Ausmumof3]

6 hours ago, Pen said:

 

Yes. Was on news, (West Coast).  But it has left news prominence due to other weather issues primarily fires with 60 mph winds.  Has your area heard of that?  I think often places have a focus on current and more local regional weather issues. 

And similar to “land hurricane” being unusual, this morning a “fire tornado” in California was getting some attention. 

I did see the fire tornado I think first on BNO twitter feed then on Washington post from memory.  Fires are getting some attention here but I’m not sure which specific ones because it seems like multiple areas.  I have seen cal, Colorado and I think your area?