Weather phenomenon known as “Derecho” kills 13 people

Jul 2, 2012 06:43 GMT  ·  By

Just this past Friday, 700 miles of the US were hit by a violent storm known as “Derecho.” Millions of households were left without access to electricity and 13 people lost their lives.

The governor of Virginia argued that this was the largest power-outage in the country's history which had nothing to do with a hurricane striking the nation.

Meteorologists explain that a derecho is basically a windstorm that can spread over vast areas of land and is accompanied by heavy downpours and thunderstorms.

This year's US derecho swept across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, moving from northern Indiana to the southeastern Mid-Atlantic coast in just twelve hours.

The following states were the ones directly hit by the storm: Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and New Jersey.

Meteorologists claim that the intensity of this storm was similar to that of a category one hurricane.

Reports indicate that wind speed hit 91 mph at certain points, bringing down trees, turning over cars, and snapping power poles. As well as this, various buildings were affected by the storm.

Most importantly, 13 people lost their lives in accidents caused by these extreme weather manifestations.

AccuWeather informs us that a woman found herself crushed in her bed by one of the trees uprooted by the powerful wind, while two boys were killed by a falling pine tree in Parvin State Park, New Jersey.

As a result of this violent storm, high officials in Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio have declared a state of emergency.

It is expected that severe thunderstorms will continue to manifest themselves in the US these days, but that the overall wind speed and the risks for similar damages will be considerably lower.

Climatologists claim that Friday's derecho comes as a direct result of the intense heat waves that have taken over the US these past few months.