Our Lady of Fair Skies, pray for us!

A rare storm producing more than 100-mph winds swept across the Midwest on Monday, August 10. Travelling over 700 miles in 14 hours, the derecho (very strong and damaging winds caused by severe thunderstorms) caused widespread damage across several states including Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

The storm, described as the Midwest’s equivalent to a hurricane, took out countless power lines and left over one million people without power Tuesday morning. Cars were overturned, trees uprooted, and roofs ripped off buildings. Utility companies are working to restore power to all customers, but CommEd in Illinois said they are prioritizing emergency response buildings, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Our Lady of Fair Skies

Fr. Francis Hoffman, “Fr. Rocky”, Executive Director/CEO of Relevant Radio® and host of the Family Rosary Across America®, spoke about the storms during the Rosary on Monday.

Fr. Rocky leads Family Rosary Across America
Fr. Rocky leads Family Rosary Across America

“A big storm came through Chicago today. I was on a conference call with a couple of people in our offices in Chicago and they said our phones our going crazy and there’s a tornado warning. So I got out the weather map and sent out an email to everybody in our Park Ridge office and said, hey go to the safe room right now! And then we prayed to Our Lady of Fair Skies and within fifteen minutes, things cleared up. So credit another win to Our Lady of Fair Skies!” said Fr. Rocky.

Despite there being over one million people without power and serious damage to property across the Midwest, no fatalities have been reported. And quite remarkably, not a single Relevant Radio station or transmitter sustained significant damage or was off air due to power outages. That in itself is a small miracle!

Our Lady of Fair Skies, pray for us!


Tune in to the Family Rosary Across America every night at 7pm CT, only on Relevant Radio.

Lindsey is a wife, mother, and contributing author at Relevant Radio. She holds a degree in Journalism and Advertising from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lindsey enjoys writing, baking, and liturgical living with her young family.