Deadly Derecho Carves 500-Mile Path Of Destruction Across Midwest

A deadly derecho swept across the Midwest on Monday (July 15), leaving a path of destruction nearly 500 miles long from Iowa to Indiana. The storm brought hurricane-force winds and tornadoes, uprooting trees, snapping utility poles, and ripping roofs from buildings. The Chicago area was particularly hard hit, with hundreds of thousands of residents left without power.

The derecho claimed at least one life in Cedar Lake, Indiana, where a 44-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell onto her home. A tractor-trailer driver was also injured in Auburn, Indiana, when a tree fell onto their truck while driving on Interstate 69.

Wind gusts as high as a Category 2 hurricane were reported, including a 101 mph gust at Davis Junction, Illinois, and a 105 mph gust at Camp Grove, Illinois. The National Weather Service office in Chicago issued 16 tornado warnings on Monday, the third-most warnings issued in one day by the office.