Our Derecho Experience

As I’m looking back through the pictures from the Derecho in preparation to write this post, it’s bringing back all those heavy feelings again.

If you’re not aware (because it was discussed very little in the media) our town (and most of our state of Iowa) was hit by a Derecho. I had never heard this word before. But we’re familiar with the word Tornado, because our town was hit by an EF3 tornado 2 years ago. Our town is so weary… still picking up the pieces in many ways.

If you drove through our town now? It would be impossible to know which damage is leftover from the tornado, and which is recent devastation from Derecho.

The Derecho came out of nowhere. I have friends whose roof was ripped off, friends who had a giant tree land on their house (pulling up the street, break water lines and gas lines), friends who lost hundreds of dollars worth of freezer meat after being without power for weeks.

But let’s be honest, things could have been SO much worse. Nobody in our town lost their lives. And personally, we mostly had tree damage and minor damage to our home (though worse than the tornado), as well as being without power for 8 days.

Even the playhouse survived. Can you see it?

*This post is sponsored by STIHL. Thank you for supporting the fabulous brands that make Reality Daydream possible!

Never have we been more relieved to be well-stocked with STIHL tools than now. Rest assured, when a disaster strikes, stores will be sold out of the essential equipment you need within hours of the event.

Nick has been so busy cutting up trees and branches in our own yard, as well as neighbors, coworkers, family members. He really comes alive when he has a chainsaw in hand and the ability to help when he sees a need.

Nick is using the STIHL MSA 140 C-B here, and boy is this baby a beast!

We love this chain saw because of how light and quiet it is. This chainsaw cuts through limbs and branches with ease. We even used it on larger branches and trunks without trouble.

Coming in at half the weight of Nick’s other chainsaw, it saves much wear and tear on his body, leaving him energy to get more done in a days time.

The battery lasts about 45 minutes, which is enough to clean up a small to medium sized tree.

Even the girls and I got in on the action of cleanup. Sisters are hard workers!

This experience has left us so grateful for so many things. Especially our partnership with STIHL!

Bethany