Monday's storm claims one life

Powerful storms that swept through Eastern Iowa Monday have claimed one life.

The Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that a man injured in Muscatine during the afternoon storms died of his injuries. However, the medical examiner's office declined to identify the man because all of his family has not been notified.

Matt Shook, Muscatine County's Emergency Management Director, was still gathering information on the storm Tuesday afternoon. Shook said the storm hit the northwest side of Muscatine. Krieger Auto Group, 506 Highway 61, is located near where the storm hit.

A man working for Krieger was seriously injured in the storm and later died of his injuries.

“From what I understand, the storm came in extremely rapidly,” Shook said. “They were seeking shelter and apparently he was struck by debris.”

Shook said he was doing a storm assessment with the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities Tuesday afternoon. The man who died of his injuries at Krieger was the only injury that was reported, Shook said.

A message left with Doug Krieger of Krieger Auto Group was not returned Tuesday afternoon.

Shook said the National Weather Service believes Monday's strong storm spawned a tornado.

“What they're explaining to me is it wasn't a typical tornado,” Shook said.

Shook said the storm began as a strong thunderstorm with powerful winds. While a typical tornado forms downward from the storm front, Shook said this one spawned from the ground up. He said the tornado didn't reach a height that could be registered by the weather service's radar.

The storm continued in a southwesterly direction from Krieger for three to four miles before continuing into the country.

“It's actually a fairly isolated tract,” he said.