Raft of tornadoes damages scores of homes in Iowa

At least 10 tornadoes ripped late Friday through Western and Central Iowa, flattening scores of homes and businesses and injuring several — and more storms are on the way for the state.

Over a thousand customers in Western Iowa remained without power Saturday afternoon, including in Pottawattamie County, which suffered some of the storm system’s worst damage, according to an online utility tracker.

Photos on social media showed heavy damage in the small town of Minden in Pottawattamie County, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha. The county declared a state of emergency, and said at least four people had been injured and 120 homes and businesses were damaged — some of them outright destroyed.

School buses were brought in to give residents a ride out of town if they needed one, said a briefing by Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Sheriff’s Office there. He asked others to stay away from the Minden area as it posed a danger from downed power lines and piles of debris where homes used to be.

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“It’s heartbreaking to see these people who have lost houses, cars, essentially their life until they have to rebuild it,” Theulen said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Pottawattamie County, which she said received “significant damage” from tornadoes, straight-line winds, hail and flash flooding. The proclamation opens up state aid, including $5,000 grants for homeowners whose income qualifies.

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While the storms caused extensive damage in the Omaha area, reports to the National Weather Service revealed that the storms followed two main tracks as they crossed from Nebraska and Missouri into Iowa on northeasterly paths — one from the Omaha area stretching up to Soldier, and one father east, through Winterset and the Des Moines metro area.

Trained weather spotters and storm chasers reported a roof blown off an athletic training center in Stanton, east of Red Oak; cars flipped in Harlan, north of Red Oak; and a tornado “at least 1/3 mile wide” in Minden. Near Des Moines, a tornado touched down Friday night in Pleasant Hill, causing one injury and damaging 20 homes, the Des Moines Register reported.

Hundreds of houses were damaged Friday in Omaha, mostly in the western part of the city, Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said. Police and firefighters went door-to-door to help people.

In one area of Omaha, dozens of newly built, large homes were damaged. At least six were wrecked, including one that was leveled, while others had their top halves ripped off.

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The weather service dispatched teams Saturday to survey the extensive damage, but said it would be days before the teams were able to rate the strength of the tornadoes.

However, radar data and damage indicators alike indicate the Omaha tornado system may have been a “violent” tornado corresponding to EF4 strength or greater on the 0-to-5 Enhanced Fujita scale for twister intensity. Maximum winds probably approached or exceeded 170 mph, though the final determination will be made by the weather service teams.

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The storms were part of a system that tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa, with additional tornadoes reported in eastern Kansas and Missouri and near Waco, Texas.

Worse, more storms were expected overnight Saturday and possibility into Sunday.

The worst of the storms expected later Saturday was expected to hit south of Iowa, where the weather service predicted long-tail and severe tornadoes.

“The greatest potential for severe storms will be from north Texas into Oklahoma and southeast Kansas, where strong tornadoes, very large hail over 2 inches in diameter and widespread damaging winds (some over 70 mph), are expected to occur,” the service warned.

In Eastern Iowa heading into Sunday, scattered showers and storms will persist, the weather service said. About a 90 percent of rain and thunderstorms was forecast Sunday for Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

Hail and flash flooding near rivers and streams were possible.

“There is potential for this activity to become severe,” the service’s Quad City Bureau warned.

The Washington Post and the Associated Press contributed.