Deracho rolls through Hancock County

GARNER - Hancock County was among the counties declared a disaster following the storm system that swept across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota on July 28 and into the early morning of July 29.

According to the National Weather Service, the strongest wind gusts from the event were reported at the Spencer airport at 92 mph. and 78 mph at Waterloo.

In this immediate area, Garner and Ventura were particularly hard-hit from the deracho (an intense fast-moving straight-line wind storm) with power outages, tree damage, and property damage at locations.

Mayor Tim Schmidt estimated that the brunt of the storm hit Garner about 11:30 to 11:45 p.m. 

"I knew the storm was approaching, so I made it to city hall before the storm hit," Schmidt recalled. "In fact the lights had just went out, but at city hall we have a generator that kicked in."

He said there was some confusion about protocol about sounding the storm sirens. 

"I didn't know the severity of the storm until one of the police officers came up and told me how bad it was. So we paged out the fire department."

The fire department had difficulty getting to the fire station as well, from downed tree branches and power lines. Once fire chief Brad Upmeyer made it to the station, a command center was established. 

"We started noting all the downed power lines," the mayor said. The city street crew was dispatched to clear an emergency route of some main streets through Garner.

"We also knew by that time, Zinpro [warehouse on N. State] had lost part of their roof and part of their wall. We found out that several trees had fallen onto houses"

Andy Buffington, Hancock County EMS director, was notified.

By about 3 a.m. the city made a local disaster declaration.

"I'm really glad we did that as early as we did," the mayor said. "We got the State notified right away."

[Editor's note: See the proclamation from Gov. Kim Reynolds.]

Reynolds' initial proclamation on July 29 named Hancock, Sioux, O'Brien and Osceloa Counties as disasters. She issued another on July 30 for seven additional counties: Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Clay, Dickinson, Lyon, Palo Alto and Worth. 

"By us doing [a local proclamation] gives us a few resources, but by [Governor Reynolds] doing it, it opened up a lot of resources," Schmidt explained. 

The city asked for the assistance of the Iowa DOT during clean-up, "and she allowed that."

"They hauled 500 loads of debris to the new dumpsite," Schmidt continued. "We had the assistance of some local businesses with equipment and farmers."

"Everybody came together. Meals were provided by businesses to the DOT workers for two days. Zinpro, Plaz-Tech and Pritchards provided the lunches. The VFW provided suppers."

At the command center, fire chief Brad Upmeyer, Hancock County EMS, and the Garner Police Department, "did an unbelievably great job coordinating the emergency efforts,"Schmidt stated.

"We are so fortunate that no was was injured during storm or clean-up. Neighbors helping neighbors. It was amazing."

By late Thursday and Friday, the majority of debris was cleaned up, 

The mayor said there will be a post-storm meeting to assess "what went right and what we could do better."

"We had an emergency plan that we just updated," he noted. "We're so thankful. Our plan and efforts really paid out."

Hancock County EMS Director Andy Buffington reported on the damage in the rural area.

"There was isolated damage throughout the County with the main area spread from Hayfield, through Garner and on to Ventura," Buffington said. "Many rural properties had some buildings damaged and a few with major to destroyed. There are large areas where the corn had been laid down due to the winds." 

Buffington noted that power outages were also widespread throughout areas of the county.

Ventura

Significant tree and property damage occurred at Ventura. City Administrator Donna Powers and Mayor Joe Schmitt also issued a local disaster proclamation. Powers reported that the Ventura Community Center sheltered two people from Clear Lake and their dog the night of the storm.

"We kept the Community Center open for anyone who needed power to charge their devices and cool off," she said

At nearby campgrounds, multiple campers were overturned. The Ventura Fire Department and EMR responded. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

There were reports of damage to boats and boat docks on Clear Lake. The force of the deracho collapsed one of the grain bins at Five Star Cooperative on Highway 18 and pushed it into a nearby one.

 Much of Ventura was without power for 18 hours, Powers reported. Some residences did not have power back on until Wednesday.

Powers and Mayor Joe Schmitt thanked to all who helped with the clean-up and recovery:Ventura Volunteer Fire Department, Ventura Public Works Dept., City of Clear Lake, Alliant Energy, and the Cerro Gordo County Emergency Mgt. team. 

"We are so thankful for the generous community support. We’ve had residents, businesses and friends from surrounding communities lend a helping hand. I want to extend our appreciation to all of those involved," she stated.