DES MOINES, Iowa - More than 70,000 utility customers were still without power a week after a powerful derecho storm left widespread damage across central Iowa from the Des Moines metro area through the Quad Cities. The storm packed winds of more that 100 miles an hour in some spots.
The Cedar Rapids area was the hardest hit, where about 50,000 Alliant Energy customers were still without power as of early Monday.
MidAmerican Energy had largely reconnected most of its Iowa customers. There were a handful of outages in the Des Moines area and less than 100 in the Quad Cities area as of early Monday.
At least four death have been connected to the storm, which left heavy damage from downed trees, flattened crops and downed power lines. The Cedar Rapids Fire Department said more than 1,600 buildings and properties were damaged.
Governor Kim Reynolds has asked for nearly $4 billion in an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to assist with clean up and relief efforts.
There were widespread outages of internet and cable TV service provided by Mediacom. The company was still trying to restore service to as much as 20 percent of its customers in the Des Moines, Ames, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Marshalltown/Newtons areas over the weekend.