As if 2020 couldn’t get any wilder, a sporadic weather event ravaged the Midwest last week, damaging thousands of homes and businesses while uprooting countless residents. Known as a “Land Hurricane,” the 800-mile wide storm pummeled Iowa and nearby states for nearly 14 hours. More commonly recognized as a derecho, the straight-line storm was an intense, widespread, and fast-moving thunderstorm comparable in strength to a tornado or hurricane. Cedar Rapids was one of the hardest hit towns, as many residents remain in the dark without power. Many businesses were undoubtedly affected by the storm. To keep employees safe, consider a mobile tornado shelter from U.S. Hazmat Rentals.
“It was like the whole storm that was 70 miles across was a tornado. The whole thing,” said Nikki Wims of Cedar Rapids. “And it just hammered and hammered and hammered.”
Source: CNN
Land Hurricanes, such as these, are a complex line of bow-shaped thunderstorms that run in rapid succession of one another in a single-stacked formation. As opposed to tornados, which are much more short-lived events, derechos can pulverize a region with sustained gale forced winds for hours at a time. When last week’s derecho finally relinquished its titanium grip on the Midwest, an unrivaled path of destruction was strewn about the midwestern landscape.
“This wiped out our entire county,” said Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart. “There was no power in the city and much of the county, people didn’t have cell service. The streets were impassible. It was horrific. I lived in Houston and I lived through some hurricanes, so some describe this as a land hurricane where we had these sustained winds for 45 minutes. It just didn’t stop. And that doesn’t happen in Iowa. We have tornadoes, and the path of tornadoes … is much more narrow.”
Source: CNN
Although Cedar Rapids residents had an advanced storm warning of 20 minutes, many residents were hopelessly unprepared for the sheer magnitude of this impressive storm. Unlike tornados, derechos, or Land Hurricanes, are slow moving storm systems that cover large swaths of land. Although residents had more than enough time to seek shelter, many could not find adequate protection.
“I was in my car. I got down underneath my floorboard and covered my head … this is real, this is crazy,” said Wims. “We just rebuilt from the flood of ’08 and now we are going to be doing it all over again.”
Source: CNN
Keep your employees safe with a U.S. Hazmat Rentals Tornado Shelter Rental
Mother Nature is truly unforgiving and capricious, as well as arbitrary in administering destruction. Storm prone prairies, such as Iowa, are not only susceptible to tornadoes, but also violent windstorms, blizzards and even flooding. Businesses and large commercial industries are particularly susceptible to killer storms as they must account for the safety of dozens of employees at any moment. Fortunately, U.S. Hazmat Rentals offers a line of rapid deployable safe rooms and mobile tornado shelters that can be easily implemented at any job-site. Made out of solid plate steel with multi-point locking doors, these structures are designed to withstand tornado and hurricane force winds.
Why waste money buying protection when you can rent from U.S. Hazmat Rentals
Mobile tornado shelters are a turnkey solution for your storm safety needs. These are perfect for construction sites that are frequently changing as building continues. Due to the quickly changing nature of construction, a rental storm shelter offers many advantages over a permanent shelter as it is more cost effective. Why would you buy a storm shelter and install at the worksite when your workforce will be moving to a new project in just a matter of weeks? Rentals are the far cheaper option and we will deliver, as well as retrieve the storm shelter, at your convenience A U.S. Tornado Shelter can also protect valuable construction equipment when the job is done for the day.
U.S. Tornado Shelter are certified to take whatever Mother Nature throws your way
U.S. Hazmat Rentals offers optimal steel protection for your most important asset: your employees. All units are certified safe by OSHA and the NFPA. They are also tested for Wind Load Resistance at 250 MPH or an EF-5 Tornadic event. All units are made with a strong foundation, so no anchoring is required.
Mobile tornado shelters serve the following industries:
- Energy
- Transportation
- Federal, State, & Local Governments
- Mining
- Petrochemical Processing
- Construction
- Manufacturing
