“Iowa homes, cornfields, utility companies and government agencies have losses estimated at nearly $4 billion from Monday’s unusual storm, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Sunday as she announced she’s filing an expedited presidential major disaster declaration with the federal government seeking that much money to rebuild and repair” reports the AP.
“The derecho with hurricane-force wind gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour destroyed or extensively damaged 8,200 homes and 13 million acres of corn, about a third of the state’s crop land, she said. More than a half million people were without electricity in the immediate aftermath of the storm. As of Sunday evening utility companies reported about 83,000 people remained without power. Alliant Energy reported about 2,500 utility poles were damaged beyond repair and ITC Midwest, which owns power lines, reported about 1,200 miles of lines torn down by the winds. About 500 miles had been repaired by Sunday.”