Clean-Up Underway After Strong Winds Cause Damage


Storms made their mark across Iowa Wednesday with damaging winds.

The severe weather produced winds of up to 70 miles per hour and dropped hail in many areas. The strong winds brought down trees, knocked out power, and damaged buildings.

Clean-up efforts began as soon as the storms passed Wednesday but there’s still a lot of work to do for some.

Utility crews have been working overnight to get the electricity restored but as of 7:00 a.m. about 655 MidAmerican Energy customers in the Des Moines metro were still without power. Around 1,291 Fort Dodge residents are also experiencing power outages.

Wednesday’s storms can be classified as derechos, which are widespread and long-lived wind storms with the winds all moving in the same direction. This can cause the same type of damage as tornadoes, but the winds don`t turn 70-80 mph gusts were common.

If you heard some tornado sirens Wednesday or even the day before, they go off for the potential of 70 mile per hour gusts -- not just tornadoes.
