CHICAGO — A powerful derecho in March 2026 produced widespread straight-line wind damage across eight states from Nebraska to Ohio, generating an estimated $2.1 billion in insured losses and leaving more than 500,000 customers without power at the peak of the event.
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. Unlike tornadoes, which produce localized damage along a narrow path, derechos produce widespread damage across a broad swath of territory — making them particularly challenging for insurance carriers and restoration contractors to respond to.
The March 2026 derecho produced wind gusts of 80 to 100 mph across parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, causing widespread roof damage, tree failures, and structural damage to commercial buildings. Several large commercial structures, including a distribution center in central Illinois, suffered partial roof collapses.
Restoration contractors in the affected states reported that the simultaneous, widespread nature of the damage made it difficult to prioritize response. Companies with GPS fleet management systems were able to dispatch crews more efficiently, but the sheer volume of damage reports overwhelmed most contractors' capacity within the first 24 hours.
The event underscored the value of mutual aid agreements between restoration contractors in different regions. Several companies that had established pre-event mutual aid agreements were able to bring in crews from unaffected states within 48 hours, significantly reducing their response backlog.
