Severe Weather

We need to be ready for more regular and more dangerous weather events, as an effect of the rising global temperature. This makes it all the more important to prepare for severe weather and potential emergencies. Here are tips to be ready for severe weather.

Ben Kieffer speaks to University of Iowa researchers Ethan Rogers and Mike Berg about the health effects of being incarcerated.

Wednesday's high winds kindled fires and left crews across the state struggling to manage blazes that scorched the plains and burned down homes.

A semitrailer was stuck by high winds rolled and onto its side on southbound U.S. Highway 151 in eastern Iowa on Wednesday evening, as severe weather moved through the area, killing the driver, the Iowa State Patrol said.

The state is expecting high winds and thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and night.

Local and state emergency managers need more ways to share information and stay in contact during widespread and long-term power outages. That’s one of the findings in a review about the 2020 derecho, commissioned by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Iowa needs targeted investments to strengthen and expand its electrical grid, in order to prepare for extreme weather events brought on by climate change. That’s the recommendation from the latest Iowa Climate Statement, which was released Wednesday by a coalition of more than 200 researchers.

The City of Cedar Rapids has released a far-reaching climate action plan aimed at significantly reducing the community’s greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The draft plan was shared at a public event Tuesday will go before the city council for a vote as soon as next week.

Last year’s powerful derecho damaged or destroyed an estimated seven million trees across Iowa, according to a new analysis released by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The storm decimated Iowa’s forests, mangling some of the state’s oldest and most majestic trees.

A year ago this month, a freak storm comparable to a Category 4 hurricane carved a path of destruction across Iowa, damaging scores of homes. One year later, some residents are still discovering storm damage from the Aug. 10 derecho, are fighting for insurance payments and struggling to rebuild.