Storms spin up tornadoes in Iowa that cause injuries, topple wind turbines

DES MOINES — Storms that pummeled much of Nebraska with torrential rain, high winds and large hail spun up fierce tornados in Iowa on Tuesday that caused extensive damage and an unknown number of injuries in at least one rural town and took down several 250-foot wind turbines.

Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla said multiple people were injured in Greenfield, a town of about 2,000 around 55 miles southwest of Des Moines, and there was a lot of damage in town. He didn't know the extent of the injuries.

Des Moines television station KCCI-TV showed at least three wind turbines that were toppled by an apparent tornado in southwest Iowa, and at least one was in flames with black smoke pluming from the bent structure.

Wind farms are built to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes and other powerful winds. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, turbines are designed shut off when winds exceed certain thresholds, typically around 55 mph. They also lock and feather their blades, and turn into the wind, to minimize the strain.

  Buy Photo

The Adair County Health System hospital in Greenfield was damaged in the storm, but MercyOne spokesman Todd Mizener said he had no further details. The hospital is affiliated with MercyOne, and officials were on their way to Greenfield to assess the damage.

Mary Long, the owner of Long's Market in downtown Greenfield, said she rode out the storm at her business in the community's historic town square, which largely escaped damage. Long said there appeared to be widespread damage on the east and south sides of town.

"I could hear this roaring, like the proverbial freight train, and then it was just done," she said.

Camille Blair said the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce office where she works closed around 2 p.m. ahead of the storm. She emerged from her home to describe widespread damage and scattered debris.

"There's a pretty significant roof damage to several houses that I know will need whole new roofs," she said. "And I can see from my house it kind of went in a straight line down the road."

In far southwestern Iowa, video posted to social media showed a tornado just northwest of Red Oak. Farther east and north, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for areas near the towns of Griswold, Corning, Fontanelle and Guthrie Center, among others.

Iowa was already braced for severe weather after the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center gave most of the state a high chance of seeing severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes. Des Moines schools ended classes two hours early and canceled all evening activities ahead of the storms.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds authorized a disaster emergency proclamation for 15 counties in response to Tuesday’s severe weather. The proclamation allows state resources to be tapped into to respond to the storms, including a program that awards $5,000 grants to qualifying homeowners and a case management advocate to work with clients to address more serious hardship, injury or adverse conditions. The counties are: Adair, Adams, Cass, Clay, Hardin, Harrison, Jasper, Kossuth, Marshall, Montgomery, Page, Palo Alto, Pottawattamie, Tama and Warren.

Other severe weather

Earlier in the day, residents to the west in Omaha, Neb., awoke to weather sirens blaring and widespread power outages as torrential rain, high winds and large hail pummeled the area. The deluge of more than 5 inches of rain in less than two hours flooded basements and submerged cars. Television station KETV showed firefighters arriving to rescue people from vehicles.

The storms followed days of extreme weather that have ravaged much of the middle section of the country. Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes swept parts of Oklahoma and Kansas late Sunday, damaging homes and injuring two in Oklahoma.

Another round of storms Monday night raked Colorado and western Nebraska and saw the city of Yuma, Colo., blanketed in hail the size of baseballs and golf balls, turning streets into rivers of water and ice. Front-end loaders were used to move half-foot deep hail Tuesday.