On the morning of August 10, 2020 a derecho, or inland hurricane, cut a wide 770 mile long swath through eastern Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin. The central Iowa area around the Iowa Arboretum and Gardens was especially hard hit. More than 100 mph winds swept through the center of the Arboretum damaging structures and destroying trees. Approximately 330 trees were either uprooted or sustained such extensive damage that they needed to be removed.
Some of these were iconic trees: the compact white fir, Abies concolor ‘Compacta’ in the Jacobson Conifer Collection, the white flowering Chinese pear, Pyrus ussuriensis, in the Flowering Trees, and the Olga Bay larch, Larix gmelinii olgensis, in the Large Conifer Collection. The most severe damage was to the Flowering Trees, Large and Medium Deciduous Trees and the north Windbreak. The Beckwith Pavilion, the Theresa Schutt Hosta House, and the Visitor Kiosk also sustained substantial damage. Many hundreds of staff and volunteer hours were spent in derecho cleanup during the fall and winter of 2020.
Donations and grants were needed to facilitate cleanup and tree replacement. In 2021, approximately 100 new trees were planted and a similar number will be planted in 2022. Structures have been repaired but it wil take decades to re-grow mature trees.
