Last year’s powerful derecho (dah-RAY-cho) storm damaged or destroyed an estimated seven-million trees across Iowa, according to a new report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Nick McGrath, a community disaster recovery coordinator, hired by the D-N-R and the nonprofit Trees Forever, says the report shows damage to the urban tree canopy alone amounts to 20-million dollars a year in lost benefits.

The DNR’s analysis finds the derecho damage to the urban tree canopy alone amounts to 90-million dollars’ worth of lost carbon storage. The August 10th, 2020 storm impacted 27 counties along the Highway 30 corridor, primarily in central and east-central Iowa.