Entire neighborhoods in parts of southwestern Iowa were flattened, homes were reduced to rubble and streets were littered with uprooted trees after a set of damaging tornadoes swept through the region Tuesday, killing multiple people and displacing others.
At least five people were killed in Iowa, including four people who died after a violent twister tore through Greenfield, a town of about 2,000 residents. The tornado there sent debris 40,000 feet into the air, according to radar estimates.
Late Wednesday, Iowa officials confirmed four fatalities in Adair County, and said more than 35 people were injured. In a statement, public safety officials said the number injured there may be higher, as the update reflected only those treated at designated care sites. Separately, a medical examiner earlier confirmed at least one death in Adams County after the storms.
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The Weather Service in Des Moines rated the Greenfield tornado at least an EF3 on the 0-to-5 Enhanced Fujita scale for intensity and said storm damage will continue to be evaluated.
“It’s just gut-wrenching. … It is just horrific. It’s hard to describe until you can actually see the devastation,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) at a news conference midday Wednesday after surveying destruction in town. Before state officials shared an update later Wednesday, Reynolds said crews were still conducting search-and-rescue efforts.
State police said Tuesday evening that there were multiple fatalities and injuries in Greenfield but had not shared further information.
In addition to hitting Greenfield, which is about 50 miles from Des Moines, Tuesday’s twisters also struck near the towns of Red Oak, Villisca, Brooks, Carbon and Corning. At least 20 tornadoes were reported Tuesday, largely in southwest Iowa. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes snapped trees throughout southwest Wisconsin and southern Minnesota, leaving thousands without power.
In Iowa, one woman died after being ejected from a vehicle during the storm near Corning in Adams County, about 70 miles southwest of Des Moines, according to Lisa Brown, the county medical examiner.
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Storm-chaser video from the area showed wind turbines flattened as the twisters swept by. Drone footage captured by storm chaser Reed Timmer from the tornado in Greenfield showed a violently spinning, massive funnel with smaller vortexes embedded within the primary twister’s circulation. The Weather Service issued a warning for the twister 46 minutes before it touched down.
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Iowa state Rep. Ray Sorensen, who lives in Greenfield, recounted rescuing someone from the rubble Tuesday evening, creating a “makeshift stretcher and put[ting] him on the back of a truck.”
“Everybody became little makeshift ambulances,” Sorensen said during a Wednesday news conference, describing a makeshift hospital at a lumberyard.
“The amount of people willing to step up and step in,” said Reynolds. “It’s heartwarming, it’s not surprising. I’ve always said Iowa was one big community, and we certainly see that in times of tragedy, and we are witnessing that again.”
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