News
Derecho leaves lasting impact
Many Iowa farmers won’t soon forget the storm that brought hurricane-force winds tearing across the state in August.
Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill tells Brownfield it will take a long time to recover from the derecho.
“To rebuild the buildings, the grain bins, the infrastructure that was destroyed.”
He says the impact to crops can be measured by harvest results and crop insurance claims.
“But a lot of the property damage has yet to be rebuilt. Insurance companies were very prompt and reliable in making indemnities to property owners. Those dollars were cycled pretty fast.”
Hill says while those payments won’t make anyone whole, the dollars will help begin the process of rebuilding.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the derecho’s financial toll exceeds nine of this year’s record ten U.S. hurricanes and tropical storms. The exception is Hurricane Laura, which caused an estimated $14 billion in damage.
