116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Western Iowa man dies as spate of tornadoes hits the state
17 twisters — or more — struck Iowa on a single day last week
A man seeking shelter in his basement as a strong tornado tore through Western Iowa’s Minden has died of his injuries as forecasters began determining the strengths of at least 17 twisters reported in the state on a single day last week.
The man, identified by family members as Nicholas Ring, 63, became trapped in his basement Friday and was taken to a hospital as soon as he was freed. He died Saturday night, according to WOWT-TV of Omaha. Ring’s wife suffered a broken ankle, the Omaha World Herald reported.
The tornado that ripped Friday evening through Minden, a town of about 600 in Pottawattamie County about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, damaged about 180 structures, flattening several, and tossed vehicles — leading officials there to declare a state of emergency and institute a curfew.
The National Weather Service on Monday rated the Minden storm as an EF3 — or “severe” tornado — with peak winds of 160 mph and carving a lengthy path of nearly 41 miles for over an hour, lasting from 5:25 p.m. to 6:29 p.m. The large twister coincided with a tornado nearby “so both were occurring at the same time, side by side.”
“In fact, there were damage indicators of EF1 damage and high-end EF3 damage within only 100 yards of each other. The most intense damage was on the far east side of Minden. Numerous homes were uninhabitable and several homes were completely destroyed,” the weather service said.
The path of the Minden tornado also went through Harlan, where mobile Doppler radar data showed winds up to 224 mph above the ground. Such winds are equivalent to what is expected from an EF5 — or “catastrophic” — tornado. But since the EF scale is a damage scale and it measures ground wind speeds, the rating is lower.
Despite Minden homes and businesses being ripped apart and residents seeking shelter with friends and relatives elsewhere, the Tri-Center Community School District sought to instill “a sense of ‘normal’” by continuing to hold classes Monday in its schools located nearby in Neola.
“We are going to have school as normally as possible. Some of you have had to relocate. If you share with us where you are now, we will do our best to get your kids to and from school,” the district posted on social media — and said a bus would pick up and drop off students from two designated spots in Minden.
“Lots of people have been reaching out to the school to provide assistance with any possible need you might have. PLEASE, let us know what you need, and we will get it to you,” the district posted. “Do you need help with a place to stay, basic necessities, cleaning up, etc. We have washing machines at school, and ice, and showers, and electricity, and access to so much more. Really, ask for whatever you need. If you know of folks that need help but might not ask, please ask for them.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds, who issued a disaster proclamation for the county to activate state aid and grants, toured the damage Saturday afternoon, thanking volunteers who provided food as families and merchants tried to deal with the devastation.
“The people of Iowa are coming together, just like we always do, to help one another,” she posted on social media platform X.
Monday, she issued disaster proclamations for eight additional counties: Clarke, Crawford, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Ringgold, Shelby and Union.
The National Weather Service said 17 tornadoes struck Iowa on Friday, although there could be more. One line generally followed a northeastern path out of the Omaha area, walloping Minden and continuing up through Monona County. Another line formed farther east, going through Winterset and the Des Moines metro area.
The weather service, which dispatched teams to investigate the damage, said it could be days before details of every storm could be determined. But by Monday, it had revealed details of 15 of them in Iowa — so far rated as EF3 or lower on a 0-5 scale. The first of the documented storms struck at 4:52 p.m. Friday and the last ended at 9:02 p.m. Friday.
Besides the EF3 Minden storm:
- Pacific Junction to Pony Creek Park, Mills County, EF1, 2.7-mile path
- Omaha to Crescent in Pottawattamie County, EF3, 16.05-mile path.
- Southern Pottawattamie County, EF3, 13.31-mile path.
- Manilla area, Shelby and Crawford counties, EF2, 9.24-mile path
- Defiance, Shelby and Crawford counties, EF1, 12.32-mile path.
- Creston, Union County, EF2, 6.83-mile path
- Afton (west), Union and Madison counties, EF2, 11.69-mile path
- Afton (east), Union and Madison counties, EF2, 10.97-mile path
- Maffitt Reservoir, Madison and Dallas counties, EF0, 1.69-mile path
- Monroe, Jasper County, EF1, 2.23-mile path
- Tingley, Ringgold County, EF2, 10.25-mile path
- Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, EF1, 26.26-mile path
- Osceola, Clarke County, EF2, 6.75-mile path
- Pleasant Hill, Polk County, EF2, 7.44-mile path
Although 17 tornadoes in a single day is not typical, it is not unheard of. On March 5, 2022, 15 tornadoes struck Iowa — killing six people and injuring five. And only weeks later, on April 12, 2022, another round tore through Iowa — 13 twisters, injuring one. And on March 31, 2023, the weather service confirmed over 20 tornadoes hit Iowa
But April does not usually have that many tornadoes in the entire month, according to National Weather Service records dating to 1950 — although 2022 with its 42 tornadoes and 2001 with 40 tornadoes were among the six exceptions noted in April in those seven decades of records.
Nationwide over a four-day period that began last Thursday, over 100 tornadoes were reported — most of them Friday and Saturday.
Besides the Friday outbreak that killed the man in Minden, at least four people — including an infant — died as tornadoes Saturday night struck Oklahoma. At least 22 twisters struck that state, all of them rated EF3 or higher.
The Washington Post and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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