The following is a chronological consolidation of posts and microposts from August 10, commonly known in east and central Iowa as “The Day of the Derecho”, through September 6, 2020.
The derecho hit my home in Toledo, Iowa, at about 11:30 AM on Monday, August 10, 2020. Straight-line winds were clocked at nearly 140 miles per hour, and sustained for more than 20 minutes across a path almost 40 miles wide.
The power is still out here, almost 10 days after the derecho knocked it out. So many power restoration predictions have come and gone, I’ve lost count. Still I’m told that what we need is a one-man, 15-minute fix. Perhaps in the morning I’ll stretch our broken power line across the street and pitch a tent next door until an Alliant truck stops and gets this done. I know they are busy, but 15 minutes of one lineman’s time a week ago, when it was first “promised”, would have been so nice. I fixed my own Mediacom connection more than a week ago, and there’s evidence tonight that their service has been restored. So, if I had power, I think we would also have TV and internet. IF.
It’s the start of day number eleven, and still no power. Checked the forecast and it’s getting hot…so am I!
Eleven days and seven hours without, but the power is now back on at 104 W. Summit Street in Toledo. I’d estimate that for the duration we burned about 105 gallons of gas just to keep the fridge, my CPAP, one lamp, and two fans running. Glad to be back in the 21st century. Now, what’s all this I hear about a deadly virus and some political scuffles?
Iowa's 2020 Hurricane
Derecho Follow-Up - Saturday, August 22
And so begins day number 11 without power. I think I have watched at least a dozen Alliant energy trucks Drive by the house already this morning. I honestly don’t think they know where we are.
Today, Sunday, August 23, 2020, marked the start of what looks like another schorching heat-wave here. So I pitched in during the morning at the home of my “scurry” partners Jeff and Mary Fasse-Shaw, to help with cutting up some of the deadfall along the creek on the west side of their property. We got a good start, but there’s a lot of fallen timber to be cleared there!