Darrell Werning
At its peak, the trail of destruction cut power to 290,000 MidAmerican customers, plus knocking down thousands of trees and buildings. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it was the costliest thunderstorm disaster in US History, causing damage estimated at 11.5 billion dollars.
MidAmerican says 60 per cent of its customers were affected, and restoring power required the efforts of 2,500 employees from 24 states. They replaced 1,000 power poles, and more than 2,700 electric service lines that connect customer homes and businesses to the power grid.
The company says within four days, it was able to restore power to 86 per cent of the customers affected by the derecho.
