Stephan: Did you know what a derecho was? I had never heard the word until I read about the catastrophic destruction the people of Iowa suffered a few days ago. The word means: "A derecho (/dəˈreɪtʃoʊ/, from Spanish: derecho[deˈɾetʃo], "straight" as in direction) is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system[1] and potentially rivaling hurricanic and tornadic forces." Basically it is an inland hurricane, and like sea rise, tornadoes, and heightened temperatures, derechos are part of America's new normal climate. And since derechos will be occurring in agricultural areas they are going to have a big effect on your food budget.
‘Grain bins were crumpled like aluminum foil. Three hundred thousand people remained without power in Iowa and Illinois on Friday.’ Credit: Robert Franklin/AP
I know a stiff wind. They call this place Storm Lake, after all. But until recently most Iowans had never heard of a “derecho”. They have now. Last Monday, a derecho tore 770 miles from Nebraska to Indiana and left a path of destruction up to 50 miles wide over 10m acres of prime cropland. It blew 113 miles per hour at the Quad Cities on the Mississippi River.
Grain bins were crumpled like aluminum foil. Three hundred thousand people remained without power in Iowa and Illinois on Friday. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were devastated.
The corn lay flat.
Iowa’s maize yield may be cut in half. A little napkin ciphering tells me the Tall Corn State will lose $6bn from crop damage alone.
We should get used to it. Extreme weather is the new normal. Last year, the villages of Hamburg and Pacific Junction, Iowa, were washed down the Missouri River from epic floods that scoured tens of thousands of […]
