Cleanup underway in Prairieburg, following EF-2 tornado

PRAIRIEBURG - Karlee Marsh was standing in her mobile home in the small, northern Linn County city of Prairieburg Wednesday night when she looked out the door and saw a tornado touch down by her neighbor's home.

She and her boyfriend raced from the home, down the street to her grandmother's house where they took cover under flipped couches.

'It was huge. It was right there,” said Marsh, 18. 'If I would have waited any longer, we would have died.”

Marsh's three dogs, left behind, all were injured in the storm, which struck the city of about 175 residents just before 7 p.m.

On Thursday, Marsh was out with family members and neighbors carrying debris from the home, as a massive cleanup effort began.

'Our town will be OK,” said Prairieburg Mayor Arlene Holub. 'We'll be back.”

David Sheets, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Iowa, said Wednesday's tornado that hit Prairieburg has been categorized as an EF-2 with wind speeds possibly reaching 120 mph.

Sheets said a preliminary storm survey was conducted in Prairieburg Thursday morning. He said the tornado moved east from Central City to Prairieburg.

Mike Fowle, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the tornado touched down for more than 10 miles.

He said the National Weather Service is confirming that three additional tornadoes hit Iowa on Wednesday - in the Adair County communities of Stuart and Greenfield and the Marion County city of Pleasantville. Both Stuart and Greenfield saw EF-1 tornadoes with the one in Pleasantville rated an EF-2.

Joe Nagel, 67, of Nagel Grain Inc., 506 S. Locust Ave., Prairieburg, had one of his grain bins blow nearly half a mile down the street on Wednesday, landing on the north side of the fire department at 304 S. Locust Ave.

He said he watched the storm from his home in Central City, where residents on Thursday were being advised by officials to boil their water through noon Friday after lighting struck the city's water tower during Wednesday's storm.

'My son-in-law called me and said it took the grain elevator. ‘It's gone,' ” he said.

On Thursday, while cleaning up, Nagel said there is nothing to do but rebuild.

Prairieburg Fire Chief Brock Wilson said many barns collapsed between Central City and Prairieburg. Multiple power lines are still curled up on the street as Alliant Energy crews work to restore power.

Mayor Holub said it has been determined that four homes in the city are unlivable, including a home across from the fire station on Locust Avenue that had the roof taken off. She spent a part of the morning Thursday trying to bring more waste containers into town as twisted tin, uprooted trees and debris was cleared by crews and volunteers.

Assistant Fire Chief Marty Rundle said the city is looking for additional volunteers to help clear out what remains of a home on Wagner Road.

'We have such good volunteers,” Holub said. 'A lot of these farmers have brought in their skid loaders and (equipment) to help.”

More severe weather is forecast today in Eastern Iowa, the National Weather Service reports.

Fowle said there is a high chance for showers and storms in the late afternoon into the evening, which might spawn into a more severe storm.

'The primary risk today is damaging wind gusts and some larger hail,” he said. 'Tornado risks seems lower today.”

Alex Connor of The Gazette contributed to this report.