Hampton resident details destruction left in hometown following unprecedented derecho event

Lydia Davis saw an unfortunate, unfathomable and heart-breaking new view of her hometown of Cedar Rapids last week.

Davis, along with her husband, traveled from Hamp-ton to Cedar Rapids with a chainsaw and tools in hand to help provide relief to the thousands of Cedar Rapids residents who were left with damaged homes and without power and resources following an unprecedented derecho event that registered sustained winds of 100-plus miles per hour last Monday.

Images and videos from friends and family gave Davis an idea of the destruction the rare storm had left, but the scene she witnessed firsthand upon arrival was something the photos could not accurately portray.

“I knew that it would be bad, but I wasn’t prepared for what was waiting for us,” she said. “We were there just over 48 hours, during which we cut down 14 trees, trimmed five more and hauled the pieces to the side of the street.

“My husband also helped fix five generators for friends and family,” she added.

As the Davises traveled to Cedar Rapids, the scope of the damage became clearer and clearer from Center Point and on. Traveling through Cedar Rapids, she said, was a daunting task in itself, as roads were covered in debris and downed power lines. Sticking to the main roads and filling up with gas before arriving in Cedar Rapids, Davis said they saw just how much their help, and the help of many, many more was needed.

“I don’t think there was a single place in Cedar Rapids that did not sustain damage in some capacity,” she said. “Trees were uprooted and snapped, phone poles were snapped in half or bent over, many buildings were left without roofs altogether, grain bins were crushed, windows were blown out, garages and sheds were pulled off their foundations or collapsed…the list goes on and on.”

While on scene, Davis said they had the opportunity to not only help, but hear stories of eyewitnesses who saw first hand the destruction of the storm. Many, she said, were caught off guard by the storm that arrived with little notice. She said those stories of shock and panic only amplify the vast damage of her hometown.

“Listening to people share their stories about being in the storm is heartbreaking,” she said. “With basically no warning, the sirens went off and many only got a “severe thunderstorm warning or watch’ on their phones, which of course, in Iowa, isn’t anything new.

“The sirens in many places went off while it was still sunny and yet minutes later, it hit,” she added, commenting that she was on the phone with a friend who works in Cedar Rapids when the storm hit. “I was one of the only people she could get ahold of and with the storm hitting, she couldn’t get enough service to look at the radar. She was hunkered down in a bathroom and was alone and terrified.”

Aside from the destruction to houses and properties, residents throughout last week and even as of Monday morning were left without power, adding frustration to an already dire situation. Davis said, however, that efforts to restore power have been tire-less and based on the damage to the infrastructure she saw, she was impressed with the progress made to this point.

“After seeing the damage, I am shocked that they are getting it up as fast as they are because with all of the snapped and damaged power lines, I would’ve estimated much longer,” she said. “The work these linemen and women are putting in is incredible and Cedar Rapids is fortunate that so many workers from other states are coming in to work long days, many of them 16 hours a day, away from their families.”

But as power returns, Da-vis said the fight for Cedar Rapids residents is far from over. She said many are with-out homes due to extensive damage and countless others are still struggling to find access to vital resources such as water, food and diapers.

The ongoing cleanup and damages, along with the struggle to find resources, she said, have made volunteerism important for the community to rebound. She said the community is welcoming any and all volunteers to help clean up and lend a hand to those who are working to clean up the area. Aside from cleanup, she said food and water donations are also welcome, as the storm wiped out power for an extended period of time, which led to the disposal of frozen and refrigerated goods.

She added that she encourages anyone with friends or family in any area affected by the derecho to see if they need assistance in any way.

Davis said it’s easy to see the pictures and stories on the news and think only the worst is being shown and the dam-age is exaggerated but just a day or so spent on site shows the true destruction of the unprecedented storm. But what working on-site also shows is the resilience of a community that has had brushes with disasters several times before. Those without power and damage to their homes still did not hesitate to help a neighbor in need when possible and that mentality, she said, is why not even hurricane-force winds can keep the city down.

“When people see news reports of damage I think we have a tendency to think that they are only reporting or showing the worst part to get more attention, and sometimes that may be the case, but not this time,” she said. “The pictures you may have seen are entirely accurate and in many ways pictures cannot truly capture the extent of the damage that has occurred.

“Cedar Rapids is forever changed, but just like the floods of 2008, they will come together, and they will overcome,” she added. “Mid-west strong, Iowa strong, Cedar Rapids strong.”