Tornado kills multiple people in Iowa as powerful storms again tear through Midwest
The National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports on Tuesday, with most in Iowa, and one each in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
GREENFIELD: Multiple people were killed when a tornado tore through a small town in Iowa and left a wide swath of obliterated homes and crumpled cars, while the howling winds also twisted and toppled wind turbines.
After devastating Greenfield, a town of 2,000, on Tuesday the storms moved eastward to pummel parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers in the two states.
Greenfield’s hospital was among the buildings that were damaged in the town, which meant that at least a dozen people who were hurt had to be taken to facilities elsewhere, according to Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla.
“Sadly we can confirm that there have been fatalities,” Dinkla said at a news conference Tuesday night, without specifying how many. “We’re still counting at this time.”
He said he thought they had accounted for all of the town’s residents but that searches would continue if anyone was reported missing. The Adair County Health System said in a Facebook post on Tuesday night that it had set up a triage center at the Greenfield high school and that people who need medical attention should go there.
The tornado destroyed much of Greenfield, which is located about 55 miles (90 kilometres) southwest of Des Moines, during a day that saw multiple tornadoes, giant hail and heavy rain in several states. The National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports on Tuesday, with most in Iowa, and one each in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In Wisconsin, the weather service’s Green Bay office dispatched a staffer Wednesday morning to survey storm damage near the village of Unity in western Marathon County after law enforcement received a report from the public about a tornado on the ground about 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday in that community about 55 miles (89 kilometres) east of Eau Claire, said meteorologist Roy Eckberg.
He said staffers would also be visiting Outagamie County near the city of Kaukauna, some 20 miles (32 kilometres) southwest of Green Bay, to investigate significant wind damage there.
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