Prairieburg residents begin cleanup after EF-2 tornado

PRAIRIEBURG - Doris McNamara, 80, was alone in her farmhouse on Wagner Road southwest of Prairieburg in northern Linn County Wednesday night when the storm blew in.

The tornado sirens sounded and McNamara was heading down into her basement when she saw the side door of her garage was open. She stepped into the garage to close the door.

That's when the tornado tore through her property, ripping the roof from the home where she has lived for decades, leaving many of her barns and outbuildings in shambles and reducing the garage to a concrete slab, where McNamara's slipper sat on Thursday.

McNamara's son, Lyle, said he found his mother, minutes after the tornado struck, sitting at the kitchen table with cuts and bruises. 'She was kind of in shock,” he said. 'I was in shock, too, when I came and everything was flat.”

Lyle said he is worried about his mother's health.

'I'm worried about her being in the hospital,” he said. 'She's in pretty good health, but with the trauma and stress and therapy, this could be it.”

EF-2 Tornado

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 confirmed 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.

‘Our Town Will Be OK'

In Prairieburg, a few miles northeast of McNamara's property, Karlee Marsh was standing in her mobile home when she looked out the door and saw the 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.”

The only thing that remained of her home was part of the porch.

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 area, as a massive cleanup effort began.

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

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 today 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.

Mayor Holub said McNamara is the only person to be injured in Wednesday's tornado and 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.

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

Power restoration

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

Mike Wagner, a spokesman for Alliant Energy, said about 2,500 customers lost power as a result of storm damage.

Customers in communities across Iowa, including Central City, Murray, Prairieburg, Letts and Osceola were the hardest hit, Wagner said.

'Most of the damage was the kind of storm damage we see during storms like this, such as trees down,” Wagner said. 'We were able to work through the night and restore power to about everybody that can take power.”

Wagner said only a handful of customers were without power as of Thursday afternoon.

The National Weather Service reports a chance of thunderstorms today, though severe weather is not expected. Saturday's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 78 degrees. A chance of thunderstorms returns Sunday and Monday.