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Posted: 8/10/2020 10:46:01 PM EDT
Just checking in with all our Iowa arfcom family. Hope you all survived without injuries or damages.
I'm very thankful I had a giant half dead tree that was 20 feet west of our bedroom taken down last year or it probably would have been in my bed.  No damage to our home, we got luckier than some others in town I've seen. No power since 11 am. (We live in one of those towns in Story County that isn't Ames) 
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Posted: 8/11/2020 5:29:13 AM EDT
[#1]
House and garage survived, trees didn't. There's several buildings without roofs, or just completely blown away here.
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Posted: 8/11/2020 7:42:51 AM EDT
[#2]
All well and good here. Power went out about 11 AM yesterday morning as well.
Last time I can remember personally going this long without power was the '02 ice storm when I lived in KC. |
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Posted: 8/11/2020 9:02:39 AM EDT
[#3]
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Posted: 8/11/2020 9:42:26 AM EDT
[#4]
Ames reporting. Lots of trees and limbs down. No power last night. Slowly coming back on this morning. ISU has power, I'm in my office.
Seeing relatively little of what I would call serious damage. Some fences took a hit. Saw one garden shed was trashed. One or two homes missing some shingles. But overall all not a lot. Obviously a handful of places did get some damage but all in all this could have been a lot worse. Not aware of any injuries. Hate to say this but it was kind of a cool storm. We stood and watched it at the office in front of picture windows. Yeah, it's an Iowa thing. |
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Posted: 8/11/2020 9:59:08 AM EDT
[#5]
In-laws east of CR lost two barns and are currently trying to figure out how to water the livestock. Minor damage to the house, roof lost most of its shingles. Elevator I used to run got completely wiped out. What a mess.
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Posted: 8/11/2020 1:44:50 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: In-laws east of CR lost two barns and are currently trying to figure out how to water the livestock. Minor damage to the house, roof lost most of its shingles. Elevator I used to run got completely wiped out. What a mess. That grain elevator I saw pics of? That place is destroyed. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 6:06:11 AM EDT
[#7]
Power just came back on here. 41 hours after it went down. It could have been a lot worse.
Was at my step sisters doing laundry yesterday, tree down on their house, and one of their vehicles. Missed the power line by inches. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 7:06:20 AM EDT
[#8]
Finished dropping my broken trees yesterday except for a big ash I can't handle. Looks like we'll be without power for a week here, and longer where I work.
I discovered my generator will actually run my new AC unit. It wouldn't start the old one. I guess scroll compressors start easier. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 8:50:21 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That grain elevator I saw pics of? That place is destroyed. Could be. Can't post pics due to company policy, but 20 miles-ish west of CR, north side of 30  Hearing Heartland system took 'serious damage' to 21 different elevators and are trying to sell 3+ mil bu's of grain right now to get other bins empty to inspect them/empty leaning bins, etc. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 10:14:01 AM EDT
[#10]
North edge of Clayton County here. No damage. no power outage. just an Iowa storm day for us. If anyone needs help I'll do what I can. I work for the next three nights though.
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Posted: 8/12/2020 1:16:14 PM EDT
[#11]
At our house I used the chain saw Mon and Tues night and hauled 3 loads of tree trash in our truck and trailer to the designated town drop off site...tonight will be the same but will probably only need 1-2 loads hauled in the pickup and trailer. But then it's off to my BIL's house that our niece rents and chainsaw the tree limbs that are too big for her to handle coming off a fractured wrist and going thru physical therapy. If there's time then it's off to my MIL's house and chainsaw a LOT of downed Black Walnut limbs and haul a LOT of tree trash to the burn pile.
Luckily my moms house has no trees per se so no clean up was necessary there. Anyone know how much wind they got down around Rathbun Lake? That would determine if I need to go down there and see how much clean up is necessary there...but it's last on the priority list as I was just down there and mowed on Sunday and I won't worry about downed trees that are in the woods. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 2:15:49 PM EDT
[#12]
Cedar Rapids/Marion checking in. Still no power - trees down everywhere. We got our asses handed to us.
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Posted: 8/12/2020 2:46:09 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Cedar Rapids/Marion checking in. Still no power - trees down everywhere. We got our asses handed to us. I hope things get back to normal for you and everyone else soon. 
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Posted: 8/12/2020 6:52:42 PM EDT
[#14]
Woodbury County. Checked the weather radar at 8AM as usual if rain/storms are forecast. The leading edge of the storm was just west of Sioux City and had a VERY ugly radar signature.. Storm came across shortly after that. High wind (70-75 MPH) and heavy rain. The unprotected patio furniture on the west patio never moved an inch, but lost 2 large limbs out of the ash tree in the front yard (east side of house). Our lights never flickered once. The city guys were out picking up storm damage debris and tree limbs within 30 minutes of the calm. Sorry for those of you that had worse experiences and I know there are many.
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Posted: 8/12/2020 9:31:58 PM EDT
[#15]
Still no power here on the NW side of Ankeny. Old generator stopped working this morning, luckily Home Depot had some new ones in today. I’ll fix the old one after this is over. We only lost some siding. My in-laws up near Luther had a neighbors machine shed fly into their house. I have spent a lot of time up their helping them pickup and try to patch holes in their walls caused by flying 2x4s.
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Posted: 8/12/2020 9:38:05 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Still no power here on the NW side of Ankeny. Old generator stopped working this morning, luckily Home Depot had some new ones in today. I’ll fix the old one after this is over. We only lost some siding. My in-laws up near Luther had a neighbors machine shed fly into their house. I have spent a lot of time up their helping them pickup and try to patch holes in their walls caused by flying 2x4s. Damn, sorry to hear about your inlaws. Luther area got hit real hard. |
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Posted: 8/12/2020 10:55:54 PM EDT
[#17]
Cedar Rapids checking in. Had two large trees from neighbor's yard fall on my house. A couple of holes punched in my roof & one in west side of house. 2.5 days later of work & feel that the work may just be half done. Lucky to have good friends & co-workers helping me out. Area looks like a war zone.
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Posted: 8/13/2020 10:39:06 PM EDT
[#18]
Boone checking in. My house was spared but a lot of houses around me weren't so lucky. Still parts of town without power. There are blocks upon blocks with power lines still down. I got power restored 47hrs after the storm.
The wind turbines I work on registered 106mph winds. It was surreal being out and watching it roll in. I've never seen the sky look as deep blue as it did 5 minutes before the storm hit |
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Posted: 8/13/2020 10:58:20 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Boone checking in. My house was spared but a lot of houses around me weren't so lucky. Still parts of town without power. There are blocks upon blocks with power lines still down. I got power restored 47hrs after the storm. The wind turbines I work on registered 106mph winds. It was surreal being out and watching it roll in. I've never seen the sky look as deep blue as it did 5 minutes before the storm hit Glad to hear you were spared. I know someone in Boone that had windows sucked out of the east side of their house
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Posted: 8/14/2020 11:56:06 AM EDT
[#20]
No.
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Posted: 8/14/2020 7:30:09 PM EDT
[#21]
You guys need help? Water? Food? Another chainsaw? I'll pack up my truck and drive down if you're in need.
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Posted: 8/14/2020 9:44:21 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You guys need help? Water? Food? Another chainsaw? I'll pack up my truck and drive down if you're in need. I'm okay but really do appreciate the offer. Very kind of you. |
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Posted: 8/14/2020 10:01:47 PM EDT
[#23]
Well the offer stands if anyone needs help.
The lack of news coverage makes it hard for us to discern just how bad things are outside of crop damage. So I don't want to just come down with a bunch of bottled water no one needs or whatever. If you guys are all good, can you point me at an organization that donations to would help the most? Meals on wheels for the elderly? Are people having trouble keeping insulin without power? Etc. |
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Posted: 8/15/2020 2:11:55 AM EDT
[#24]
CR took a beating.
Most still w/o power today, estimates for restoration range from 4-7 days from what I'm hearing. Most movable debris moved to gain access to residential in my group of 8 family/friends. Finally got ahold of some portable generators and a handful of gas stations open. There is not a lot of community spirit left in this world, utter disappointment in the "me/mine/right now" mentality. Above and Beyond is a nonprofit organization helping my FIL (retired Seabee), oxygen machine, generator, some meals. Outstanding organization. We will all make it through this shit. Everyone stick together. |
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Posted: 8/15/2020 10:35:48 PM EDT
[#25]
Im in Marion. Its a war zone
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Posted: 8/18/2020 12:16:14 AM EDT
[#26]
Those that say CR looks like a war zone are not exaggerating....this thing hit us with 112MPH winds for 20-30min
NW corner of CR near Viola Gibson Elementary school. I'm in an older area with lots of mature trees....if the tree isn't topped about half way up its down on the ground completely. I personally lost an apple tree, a mature oak and a 60ft pine...others had it much worse. If you have ever driven past Rockwell Collins you know they had dozens of mature trees around the parking lot....I would estimate 90% of those are gone. If I heard thee local news right, there are approximately 1100 homes that have been deemed uninhabitable. (lost roof, wall blown in..etc). In this area they said 1200 miles of power lines went down. I know several of the main feeds to CR were on the ground after the storm. Most of the town still didn't have power last Friday when the heat and humidity were so high. Alliant has pledged to have "a significant number" of people back on power by tomorrow. They may make it, they may not..The crews are working long hours to get things back on. I know mine came on today...almost a week to the minute after the storm hit. (Very thankful and I let the crews know it) In my neighborhood everyone is pitching in. You clean up one yard and move to the next. Downed trees are being cut up and dragged to the curb where hopefully the city will be by with a claw and dump trucks. |
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Posted: 8/18/2020 12:24:54 AM EDT
[#27]
One final note about this mess....
If this had been on either coast the national news media would have been all over this for a week non-stop. No idea why they haven't given it more than a passing mention this morning on ABC. I do have my suspicions... Other than some notable exceptions, we Mid-westerners don't sit around on our hands screaming "Where's FEMA, Where is the government...why haven't they fixed this." We roll up our sleeves and get to work. I saw this in Grand Forks, ND in 97, I saw it in Cedar Rapids 2008, and now. **Rant over...I think I'll have a bourbon and then go to bed 
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Posted: 8/18/2020 6:42:29 AM EDT
[#28]
Things get a little better with each passing day.
It'll be fine, eventually. |
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Posted: 8/18/2020 8:46:08 AM EDT
[#29]
I heard on the news driving in to work this morning that 50,000 still without power in the Cedar Rapids area.
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Posted: 8/18/2020 10:15:56 AM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I heard on the news driving in to work this morning that 50,000 still without power in the Cedar Rapids area. Some areas/neighborhoods still are not reachable by utility workers. The number of displaced individuals is climbing. Availability of electrical components is scarce. |
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Posted: 8/18/2020 4:05:05 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: One final note about this mess.... If this had been on either coast the national news media would have been all over this for a week non-stop. No idea why they haven't given it more than a passing mention this morning on ABC. I do have my suspicions... Other than some notable exceptions, we Mid-westerners don't sit around on our hands screaming "Where's FEMA, Where is the government...why haven't they fixed this." We roll up our sleeves and get to work. I saw this in Grand Forks, ND in 97, I saw it in Cedar Rapids 2008, and now. **Rant over...I think I'll have a bourbon and then go to bed Instead of bitching and complaining Iowans are getting to work to clean up theirs and others without flinching. It really restores a little faith in humanity. Of the out of state line crews I have talked to they love coming to Iowa - they said we cheer when the power comes on and provide food and water for their crews. They also said, and the message was consistent be it a crew from Missouri, Canada, Oklahoma, etc., that when they go to the east or west coast they are treated like shit and bitched at for not having power restored immediately. That really says something about us Iowans. Stay strong brothers and sisters. |
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Posted: 8/18/2020 11:04:46 PM EDT
[#32]
They should be well hydrated then..I know I brought out water and Gatorade to the guys who were just walking around inspecting the lines.
I told them there would be a few dozen beers waiting for them that night if they got my power on too.
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Posted: 8/19/2020 8:47:46 AM EDT
[#33]
Adjuster here for the storm. Some tips I'm running into
Save receipts for generator fuel Take pictures of everything ruined including food if applicable If you have tree or limbs on a covered structure that's a seperate item from general tree damage. Have them split on invoices. Keep track of reasonable time spent clearing them if doing it yourself Get trees off structures before your adjuster shows up Tapping roofs or other temporary repairs, save receipts If anyone knows of a place to stay closer than DeWitt to cedar Rapids let me know. If anyone has questions I'll try to help. Email is best |
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Posted: 8/19/2020 9:30:38 PM EDT
[#34]
Anamosa would be a lot closer and may have escaped damage. Or Ia City
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Posted: 8/20/2020 12:44:45 PM EDT
[#35]
Great information Wulf202 and thanks for all your help
 ...I know it can be a thankless job during these stressful times. If you need any other help with things or questions feel free to ask. 
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Posted: 8/25/2020 9:59:15 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Anamosa would be a lot closer and may have escaped damage. Or Ia City Alamosa didnt escape damage. All the hotels close are not honoring reasonably priced reservations. Staying in Davenport now. Working mostly east and southeast of cedar rapids. Finding hail damage east of cedar rapids along with wind. |
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