The approaching clouds looked familiar. The Wabash Valley had, indeed, seen this before.
A vicious thunderstorm packing high winds, heavy rain and sporadic hail pummeled Terre Haute last Tuesday, just a few days short of the one-year anniversary of a similar storm that hit the area. It was an eerie flashback.
When the system had passed, the damage was evident. Trees, limbs, utility poles, signs and street lights were the most apparent victims. But deeper problems existed for the thousands of residents who had lost power.
Duke Energy estimated that 20,000 customers were initially without electricity. And numerous homes and structures had sustained windrelated damages. By the following morning, the Vigo County commissioners had declared a disaster emergency. While most roadways had been cleared for traffic to resume, many stoplights were still off or malfunctioning in affected areas, most of which were in an area south of Interstate 70.
By Friday evening, there were still many residents without power. And internet outages in hard-hit areas also persisted.
It seems the Midwest is destined to get these constant reminders of just how destructive — and frequent — these types of weather events are going to be.
Weather experts say last week’s storm system is a bit different than the one that hit in late June last year. While equally potent, it wasn’t as widespread as the derecho that pounded the area on June 29, 2023. That’s little consolation, of course, to those who bore the brunt this time.
As withering heat and related severe weather continue to increase in frequency during spring and summer months, the need to be prepared should be foremost in people’s minds. You can write it off as simply normal unpredictable weather if you choose, but any reasonable analysis will show that these types of events are not only happening more often, they are more intense.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of serious injuries from last week’s storm. That tells us that people are heeding warnings and not taking too many chances when potential severe weather is on the way. But some people don’t have the choice to hunker down as a storm approaches. That leaves them vulnerable to the whims of a bad-weather outbreak.
It’s important to recognize that the harsh weather phenomenon does not happen in a vacuum. Other parts of the Midwest, as far north as Minnesota, have suffered devastating floods from excessive rainfall. The consequences of this distinct and undeniable trend are widespread and can have an adverse economic impact on energy and transportation infrastructure as well as individuals affected by it.
Our warming climate will continue to wreak havoc on various regions of the country and world in myriad ways. Every person, community, public agency and private entity should take stock of the situation and acknowledge the threat it poses.
The resulting disruptions to lives and livelihoods are not just something to be faced in the future. As the people of Terre Haute can attest, they are happening now.
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