Quote Originally Posted by adaniel View Post
I went through a derecho in 2006 in St Louis. They are every bit as scary as a tornado. This occurred during the same weekend as the opening of the new Busch Stadium, and several people were hurt very badly during a Cardinals game. The best way I would describe it is 3-5 minutes of howling 70-80 mph winds (no gusts just straight unrelenting winds). Since they are huge geographically there is no escape. I just got my power back on at my house this morning and I definitely will be preparing for this tonight. During the height of the storm, something like 70% of St Louis City/County was without power.

Venture, maybe I heard wrong but I always understood that derechos were summer events that usually occurred in the Midwest and Northeast?
Derecho's are what causes power to be out for several days. That and icestorms.