A Riverside native has garnered national attention after her video about the Cedar Rapids derecho went viral. Kirkwood student Bailey Harmston was in Cedar Rapids when the storm swept through the city, and while preparing a shower in the dark, she felt the need to share her emotions about the storm that, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture, flattened 14 million acres of insured crops. After gathering her thoughts, she took action and made a video on the social media video-sharing app TikTok, “I was like, ‘This is ridiculous.’ I’m taking a shower in the dark with a lantern with some sunlight coming in. All of this stuff that is happening, I haven’t heard anything about it and it was just built up frustration of not seeing enough information about it or not talking about it that I was like, ‘Alright, I might as well see if this is a TikTok that will blow up.’ And it was.” It’s an informative video telling those outside of Iowa how great the damage was caused by this storm.

As of Monday, the video has had over 10 million views and two million likes. Harmston did not anticipate the video garnering as much attention as it did, but she was happy so many people responded positively, “Now that I’m actually starting to have a following, it’s really putting my life into perspective in a way of being like, ‘Ok, this is something I can do something with. What do I want to do with it?’ And it’s given me a lot to think about, more than anything else.”  

She has included multiple links on her social media pages with ways people can donate to derecho relief efforts and hopes more individuals across Eastern Iowa will consider helping those in need.