Tornadoes damage buildings, lightning causes fire in Iowa

BERNARD, Iowa — A tornado damaged several buildings and knocked down power lines and trees in Eastern Iowa on Sunday night.

Most of the storm damage was reported in rural areas near the town of Bernard, and a lighting strike from the storm also caused a house fire near Dubuque. No injuries were reported.

Tornado Warning including Cascade IA, La Motte IA, Bernard IA until 8:30 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/4i4MMwFfvX

— NWS Quad Cities (@NWSQuadCities) June 21, 2021

Dubuque County Emergency Management Director Tom Berger said a tornado was spotted on the ground near the line between Dubuque County and Jackson County around 8 p.m. Sunday.

Officials said several farm buildings were damaged were damaged in the area, including a 40-foot-by-60-foot building that was nearly knocked down. The storm also tore the roof off a cattle barn.

Tornado causes damage near Bernard; lightning causes residential fire outside of Dubuquehttps://t.co/dqGECC9i9v pic.twitter.com/2BqwjAfkdF

— Telegraph Herald (@TelegraphHerald) June 21, 2021

Lightning struck a home in a neighborhood just outside of Dubuque and started a fire in the garage. The family was able to evacuate the home safely, but the fire caused significant damage.

The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that an EF1 tornado touched down northwest of Pella on Sunday night. It tracked east-southeast for about 1.5 miles and lasted about four minutes.

An EF1 tornado packs winds from 86 mph to 110 mph and causes moderate damage. The weather service reported that structural damage to buildings was found, along with shingle and siding damage to residences in its path.

The storm also knocked out power in the city of Cascade, and quarter-inch-sized hail was reported near Manchester.

Multiple farm buildings have significant damage to them after Sunday night’s tornado outside of Bernard. pic.twitter.com/CreaSpu5VC

— Telegraph Herald (@TelegraphHerald) June 21, 2021