(Radio Iowa) – The Derecho (a long-lasting, straight-line wind storm) that plowed through Iowa yesterday (Monday) caused significant damage in the Marshalltown area, a part of the state still recovering from the 2018 E-F-three tornado. A 99 mile-per-hour gust was reported at the Marshalltown Airport as the winds and rain inundated the community, damaging not only buildings and houses and trees in downtown Marshalltown, but throughout the community and beyond. But like two years ago, Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper says when it came to people, no lives were lost.

“We got through another one without any significant or minimal significant injuries,” he says. “I know that we had one person injured during the storm fairly seriously.” Two years ago, the historic Marshall County Courthouse took a direct blow from the tornado. Renovation is work has been ongoing, with workers on scaffolding to repair the courthouse exterior. County Auditor Nan Benson says all the workers made it to shelter in time.

“We were able to get all the workers off of the scaffolding around the courthouse. Surprisingly, it’s like we knew it was coming, but I don’t know if our construction folks were not paying attention to the weather, but luckily everyone was off the scaffolding, so there were no injuries there. There was pieces of scaffolding flying around during the storm.” Marshalltown Aviation General Manager Steve Valbrecht says damage was minimal at the airport, despite that 99 mile an hour wind gust.

“We did have some damage to the buildings out here, as you can expect (with) metal buildings — roofing and collapsed hangar doors,” he says. “And one hangar door that actually left the hangar. There wasn’t any damage to any airplanes that we can find yet.” As of Monday night, the promise of power returning to Marshalltown, as well as Ames and other central Iowa communities was not known, but for some areas it could be days.

(Radio Iowa) — State Climatologist Justin Glisan is among those dealing with damage from Monday’s severe weather. Glisan and his wife were working from home when the storm rolled through the Beaverdale neighborhood in Des Moines.  “We call it a Derecho. It’s literally a wall of wind,” Glisan says. “This is the most frightened I’ve been in my life.” The wind blew a neighbor’s huge maple tree into Glisan’s house, sheared off the gas main and pushed into the foundation.

“We had a gas leak downstairs, so we had to leave,” Glisan says, “get out of the house with our dog, George, and get into a car and we drove to a parking lot that was free of large trees and just had to wait it out because we didn’t have anywhere else to go.” The first storm warnings were issued yesterday (Monday) morning for western Iowa, with wind speeds reported between 60 and 70 miles an hour. The winds picked up speed as they moved through the state, with a 99 mile per hour gust recorded in the Marshalltown area.

“Once you get a squall line like this to stay together, it just perpetuates itself,” Glisan says, “and that’s what happened.” Glisan says yesterday’s (Monday’s) storm is a reminder to heed National Weather Service warnings. “These events can get severe really fast and it can impact life and property, as we’ve seen across much of Iowa,” Glisan says.

Many communities in the path of the storm asked residents to stay home, as crews removed storm debris and power lines from streets and roads. By mid-afternoon Monday, more than 420-thousand Iowa homes and businesses had lost power according to the National Weather Service.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A rare wind storm with power similar to an inland hurricane swept across the Midwest, blowing over trees, flipping vehicles, causing widespread property damage and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power. The storm known as a derecho lasted several hours as it tore across eastern Nebraska, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin and Illinois.

Pieces of the Buccaneer Arena roof litter the parking lot after a strong thunderstorm with high winds blew through the Des Moines metro on Monday, Aug. 10. 2020, in Urbandale, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP)

A scientist at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center says the storm had the wind speed of a major hurricane, and likely caused more widespread damage than a normal tornado. Officials in the Iowa cities of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Marshalltown say the damage is extensive.