Damage is seen after a tornado moved through Greenfield, Iowa. Photo / AP
The Iowa State Patrol has confirmed multiple deaths from a tornado and at least a dozen injuries in storms Tuesday, but it has not released specific numbers.
“We do have confirmed fatalities,” Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Alex Dinkla said at a news conference on Tuesday night. He said authorities were still determining the total number.
Powerful storms that rolled through the Midwest spun up multiple tornadoes, including a fierce twister that smashed through the small Iowa town of Greenfield, with a population of about 2000 around 88km southwest of Des Moines. The twister carved a bleak landscape of destroyed homes and businesses, shredded trees, smashed cars and widely strewn debris.
In the aftermath of the storm, parts of Greenfield appeared devastated. Mounds of broken wood, branches, car parts and other debris littered lots where homes once stood. Cars lay busted and bent while damaged houses sat skewed against the grey and overcast sky. Trees stood — barely — bereft of branches or leaves. Residents helped each other salvage furniture and other belongings from mounds of debris or from homes barely left standing.
Rogue Paxton said he sheltered in the basement of his home when the storm moved through. He told WOI-TV he thought the house was lost but said his family got lucky.
“But everyone else is not so much, like my brother Cody, his house just got wiped,” Paxton said. “Then you see all these people out here helping each other. ... Everything’s going to be fine because we have each other, but it’s just going to be really, really rough. It is a mess.”
From Mason Clark in Greenfield, Iowa:
— Cody Hills (@ByCodyHills) May 21, 2024
“The whole town is destroyed. Everything is gone.” #iawx (@ryanhallyall) pic.twitter.com/afvnx9MReS
Multiple tornadoes were reported throughout the state, and one also apparently took down several 76m wind turbines. Des Moines, Iowa, television station KCCI-TV showed at least three wind turbines that were toppled by an apparent tornado in southwest Iowa, and at least one was in flames with black smoke pluming from the bent structure.
Wind farms are built to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes and other powerful winds. According to the US Department of Energy, turbines are designed to shut off when winds exceed certain thresholds, typically around 88km/h. They also lock and feather their blades, and turn into the wind, to minimise the strain.
This was absolutely insane. 6 feet deep craters as well near Prescott, Iowa.#iawx @DJIGlobal #wxtwitter pic.twitter.com/C3SXEzU3to
— Jordan Hall (@JordanHallWX) May 22, 2024
The Adair County Health System hospital in Greenfield was damaged in the storm, but Mercy One spokesman Todd Mizener said he had no further details. The hospital is affiliated with Mercy One, and officials were on their way to Greenfield to assess the damage.
MY GOODNESS... yet another incredible tornado in Iowa, we got close to this massive stovepipe and didn't even know there was another beast ongoing just a few miles away. 2024 continues to impress...
— Max Olson (@MesoMax919) May 22, 2024
FUL VIDEO HERE - https://t.co/0wHzgjoKOu pic.twitter.com/VjrbUra2l2
The town bills itself as “the friendly wave as you walk” type of place with tree-lined streets — before the storm — and “the crack of the fireworks or twinkle of the lights” on special holidays. Also touting itself as the “perfect place to grow,” Greenfield prides itself on being a town where business owners know your name and neighbours help neighbours, according to its visitors page.
Mary Long, the owner of Long’s Market in downtown Greenfield, said she rode out the storm at her business in the community’s historic town square, which largely escaped damage. Long said there appeared to be widespread damage on the east and south sides of town.
“I could hear this roaring, like the proverbial freight train, and then it was just done,” she said.
Camille Blair said the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce office where she works closed around 2pm ahead of the storm. She emerged from her home to describe widespread damage and scattered debris.
“There’s a pretty significant roof damage to several houses that I know will need whole new roofs,” she said. “And I can see from my house it kind of went in a straight line down the road.”
In far southwestern Iowa, video posted to social media showed a tornado just northwest of Red Oak. Further east and north, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for areas near the towns of Griswold, Corning, Fontanelle and Guthrie Center, among others.
Iowa was already braced for severe weather after the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center gave most of the state a high chance of seeing severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes. Des Moines public schools ended classes two hours early and canceled all evening activities ahead of the storms.
The storms and tornado warnings moved into Wisconsin Tuesday evening and night, including a warning for the state’s capital city of Madison.
Earlier in the day, residents to the west in Omaha, Nebraska, awoke to weather sirens blaring and widespread power outages as torrential rain, high winds and large hail pummeled the area. The deluge flooded basements and submerged cars. Television station KETV showed firefighters arriving to rescue people from vehicles.
In Illinois, dust storms forced authorities to shut down stretches of two interstates due to low visibility. Winds gusts of between 56km/h and 74km/h hit the McLean area, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Schaffer.
“There is no visibility at times,” state police posted on the social media platform X.
The storms followed days of extreme weather that have ravaged much of the middle section of the country. Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes swept parts of Oklahoma and Kansas late Sunday, damaging homes and injuring two in Oklahoma.
Another round of storms Monday night raked Colorado and western Nebraska and saw the city of Yuma, Colorado, blanketed in hail the size of baseballs and golf balls, turning streets into rivers of water and ice. Front-end loaders were used to move 1.8m deep hail Tuesday.
Last week, deadly storms hit the Houston area in Texas, killing at least eight people. Those storms on Thursday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands for days, leaving those Texans in the dark and without air conditioning during hot and humid weather. The total of deaths was raised on Tuesday from seven to include a man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while running a generator after his power went out. Hurricane-force winds reduced businesses and other structures to debris and shattered glass in downtown skyscrapers.
Tuesday’s storms were expected to bring much of the same high winds, heavy rain and large hail to Minnesota and part of northern Missouri, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.
He said the system is expected to turn south on Wednesday, bringing more severe weather to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri.
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