BENTON COUNTY, Iowa — Friday marks 14 years since a destructive derecho producing 100+ miles an hour winds tore through parts of the Midwest and rural Iowa, including Benton, Linn and Tama Counties.
In the early hours of July 11, 2011, a powerful line of storms moved east from Des Moines, becoming a derecho with winds blowing through Garrison and Vinton at around 100-130mph. It destroyed numerous properties including the Garrison library and fire station.
Benton County farmer Cody Johnson said this was one of two derechos over a decade that damaged his family’s farms. He said while both forced his family to rebuild, the 2011 derecho hit the farms harder, as they cleaned up three different properties…