Chicago TV station, picking up the pieces in their own studio following yesterday’s Derecho thunderstorms, asks the question a lot of folks in Illinois would like to answer – “Is this the New Normal?”
In addition, the reporter mentions conspiracy theories among those who wonder if evil forces are controlling destructive weather fronts to punish God fearing conservatives. To his credit, he avoids laughing out loud and gives the sensible sensible and correct answer. (No, you idiots)
Forecasters said a wind gust of 99 mph (159 kph) was recorded in Gary, Indiana. Elsewhere there were numerous reports of gusts of 80 mph (128 kph) or more at personal weather stations.
Preliminary information indicated that the intense system that swept from Iowa into Indiana over several hours qualified as a derecho, the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday evening. Derechos are prolonged straight-line wind events that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far. The damage they cause is sometimes comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes.
“Total devastation. No roof,” said Kerry Hourigan, standing outside her home of 25 years in Tinley Park, another Chicago suburb. “Stupid thing, but my focus was I just bought a new barbecue grill, and I have no idea where that is. It’s disappeared.”
Dayton, Ohio, set a daily rainfall record with 2.07 inches (5.25 cm), shattering a mark set in 1915, the weather service said.