Greenfield, Iowa: Tornado-producing storms claimed several lives in Iowa and are now threatening cities from Texas to New York

CNN
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In some Iowa communities Wednesday, the focus will be on sifting through the rubble of now unrecognizable homes and mourning the deaths of neighbors killed in a series of tornado-triggering storms that ripped through the Midwest yesterday now have their sights set on a much larger swath of the United States.

Multiple deaths and some injuries were reported in the small town of Greenfield, Iowa – about 50 miles southwest of Des Moines – after a tornado left devastating damage through the community Tuesday evening, Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla told CNN. Dinkla did not provide any information on the number or nature of the deaths.

“There’s basically nothing left,” Clel Baudler, a former Iowa state representative who lives half a mile from Greenfield, told CNN on Tuesday. Video captured by CNN affiliate KCCI shows that homes and other buildings have been destroyed and the community is covered in piles of rubble, overturned cars and uprooted trees.

At least 17 tornadoes were reported in Iowa on Tuesday, part of a parade of storms that swept across the U.S. this week, leaving behind widespread power outages, structural damage and some flooding.

Power outages in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois left nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in the dark Tuesday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. More outages are expected as storms move across the East on Wednesday.

The threat of severe thunderstorms will weaken somewhat on Wednesday, but they are expected to produce strong winds, hail and some tornadoes over a vast area of ​​1,500 miles from Texas to western Vermont.

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“Severe thunderstorms with the potential for damaging gusts and hail are possible Wednesday from Central Texas into the Ohio Valley and the lower Great Lakes area. The greatest threat of damaging hail and wind is forecast from North Texas across the Ozarks,” the Storm Prediction Center said.

A few tornadoes could strike from Texas to Arkansas, but hail and strong winds are possible anywhere along the storm’s path.

The strongest impacts will be felt from central Texas to southeastern Oklahoma and central Arkansas, including Dallas, Fort Worth and Little Rock. Hailstones over 5 cm in diameter, wind gusts of up to 120 km/h and some tornadoes could occur.

However, cities are at lower risk on Wednesday This also includes Nashville, St. Louis, Memphis, Cleveland, Tulsa and Columbus storm conscious.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a state of emergency for 15 counties on Tuesday after a severe line of thunderstorms triggered rare, elevated tornado warnings in parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Western Iowa bore the brunt of the storms’ catastrophic impacts. Fierce winds and possible tornadoes leveled buildings in Greenfield, toppled a massive wind turbine in Prescott and turned several people’s homes into mountains of jagged rubble.

In addition to the deaths reported in Greenfield, at least one other person died as storms swept through nearby Adams County, according to local officials.

More than two dozen homes were damaged or destroyed in Montgomery County, including some “critical public facilities,” emergency management officials said. No injuries were reported, but damage assessment is still ongoing.

Valerie Warrior, a Greenfield resident, pleaded with God to protect her home and family before sitting out the storm in her basement, she told CNN affiliate KCCI.

“I was in the boiler room and then I heard (the storm) like a train,” she said, describing the insulation blowing away from the basement windows. “I heard it and knew it was hitting.”

Warrior said the extent of the damage is “devastating,” but she is confident residents will pull each other through the crisis.

“You will do it. You can already see people helping each other and working together. And that’s exactly what they do: people come together when tragedy occurs. People come together to support and encourage each other.”

Fighting back tears, Warrior looked at a lawn strewn with debris and tried to put on a smile.

“We will rebuild, we will rebuild.”

CNN’s Jessica Jordan, Sara Smart and Amy Simonson contributed to this report.