Iowa tornado kills ‘multiple’ people in small town reduced to rubble

GREENFIELD - A powerful tornado ripped through a small Iowa town on May 21, killing multiple people and leaving at least a dozen injured, the authorities said.

Images from the town of Greenfield show a path of utter destruction, with homes reduced to splinters, debris strewn everywhere and several large wind turbines toppled.

“This tornado has devastated a good portion of this town,” said Sergeant Alex Dinkla, of the Iowa State Patrol, during an evening press conference in Greenfield.

“We can confirm there have been multiple fatalities with this tornado.”

Sgt Dinkla did not provide a death toll, but said it might not be before May 22 that figures could be provided.

At least a dozen people in Greenfield, a town of about 2,000 people, were injured in the twister, Sgt Dinkla said. Because the local hospital sustained damage in the storm, those people had to be transferred to facilities in nearby towns.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said she would visit Greenfield on the morning of May 22.

“While it’s too soon to know the storm’s full impact, answers will come in the hours and days ahead,” Mrs Reynolds said in a statement.

The governor said the state would provide its full resources to help the impacted areas recover, and reassured residents that support was in place working to provide shelter, food and water, and restore power to thousands of residents.

“I’ve lived here all my life. I’m just praying that everyone was safe, that everybody’s safe, and nobody got hurt,” Ms Valerie Warrior, a Greenfield resident, told CBS affiliate KCCI TV in an interview, standing near some of the demolished dwellings. “It was scary, very scary.”

Other videos showed smashed vehicles and heavy damage to a petrol station in Greenfield, the county seat of Adair County which, along with adjacent Adams County, appeared to have borne the brunt of the Iowa storms in the south-western corner of the state.

At least one person, a woman in Adams County, was listed as a storm-related fatality, the county’s medical examiner Lisa Brown said. She spoke to Reuters by phone but said she could not yet provide more details.

Mrs Reynolds declared a “disaster emergency” for 15 counties, including Adair and Adams, allowing state resources to be readily utilised in responding to the storm.

Also in Adams County, at least three wind turbines standing about 25 storeys high were snapped nearly in half, with one catching fire, KCCI reported. It said several other wind turbines were damaged in Adair County.

The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm advisories for much of Iowa and several other Midwestern states on May 21, including parts of Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Earlier in the day, the weather service confirmed at least one tornado over Rollingstone, Minnesota. REUTERS