Tornado in Greenfield, Iowa: 4 people died and at least 35 were injured in the storm

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) – Five people died and at least 35 were injured Strong tornadoes swept through Iowa On Tuesday, one left a path of destruction through the town of Greenfield, officials said.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday that four people were killed in the Greenfield area. Officials did not release the names of those killed in the storm because they were still in the process of notifying relatives.

The figures released Wednesday bring the total number of deaths to five, after authorities earlier announced that a woman in a vehicle was killed by a tornado about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Greenfield. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday it believes the number of injuries is likely higher.

The Greenfield tornado left a wide swath of destroyed homes, splintered trees and crumpled cars in the town of 2,000 people about 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) southwest of Des Moines. The twister also tore apart and crumpled giant wind turbines for generating electricity several miles outside of town.

Greenfield resident Kimberly Ergish, 33, and her husband searched the rubble that was once their home on Wednesday for family photos and other salvageable items. There isn’t much left, she acknowledged.

“We can’t save most of it,” she said. “But we’ll take what we can.”

She said she had not yet fully grasped that her house had been destroyed within seconds.

“If it weren’t for all the bumps and bruises and aching bones, I would think it didn’t happen,” she said.

Later Tuesday, the storms devastated parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, causing power outages for tens of thousands of customers in the two states. The storm turned south Wednesday, and the National Weather Service issued tornado and flash flood warnings in Texas as parts of the state – including Dallas – were under a tornado watch.

The National Weather Service said initial investigations indicate at least one EF-3 tornado in Greenfield, but additional damage assessment could produce a more meaningful ranking.

The tornado appeared to be more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) above the ground, said Jon Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather. A satellite photo from BlackSky Technology shows where the hurricane left a nearly straight path of destruction through the city south of Greenfield’s central square.

The deadly hurricane formed during a historically bad tornado season in the United States, at a time when Climate change increases the severity of storms around the world. In April, there was the second highest number of tornadoes on record in the country.

According to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, there have been 859 confirmed tornadoes this year through Tuesday, 27% more than the U.S. average. So far, Iowa has had the most cases, with 81 confirmed twisters.

On Tuesday alone, the National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports, most of them in Iowa and one each in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The tornado that devastated parts of Greenfield brought to life in Iowa the worst-case scenario that weather forecasters had feared, Porter said.

“Debris was thrown thousands of feet into the air and eventually fell to the ground several counties away from Greenfield. This is a testament to how intense and deadly this tornado was,” Porter said.

People living up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Greenfield posted photos on Facebook of torn family photos, yearbook pages and other items thrown into the sky by the tornado.

About 90 miles away, in Ames, Iowa, Nicole Banner found a yellowed page labeled “This book is the property of the Greenfield Community School District” stuck to her garage door like a Post-It note after the storm passed.

“We just couldn’t believe it had traveled that far,” she said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the FEMA administrator would travel to Iowa on Thursday and that the White House was in contact with state and local officials. She said they would “pray for those who tragically lost their lives” and wish those injured a “speedy recovery.”

Greenfield’s 25-bed hospital was among the buildings damaged, and at least a dozen injured people had to be transferred to other facilities. Hospital officials said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the hospital would remain closed pending further investigation and that full repairs could take weeks or months. The hospital, with the help of other providers, has set up an emergency room at an elementary school where primary care will be offered Thursday, the post said.

Residential streets that were lined with mature trees and neatly appointed ranch-style homes on Monday were a chaotic jumble of splintered and shattered remains on Wednesday. Many of the basements of the homes where residents were sheltering were exposed and front yards were littered with belongings, from furniture to children’s toys to Christmas decorations.

Dwight Lahey, a 70-year-old retired truck driver, drove from suburban Des Moines to Greenfield to help his 98-year-old mother. She sought refuge from the twister in her basement and then walked through her destroyed garage to a nearby supermarket, Lahey said.

“I don’t know how she got through this mess,” he said. His mother was staying in a hotel and doesn’t know where she will end up without her home, he said.

Roseann Freeland, 67, waited until the last minute to rush into a concrete room in their basement with her husband. Seconds later, her husband opened the door, “and you could just see daylight,” Freeland said. “I just lost control. I just completely lost control.”

Tuesday’s destructive weather also led to flooding and power outages in Nebraska, damage from tornadoes in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and dust storms in Illinois that forced the closure of two highways.

Devastation followed in Iowa Days with extreme weather which devastated large parts of the central part of the country, including Oklahoma and Kansas. Last week deadly storms At least eight people were killed in the Houston area and hundreds of thousands were cut off from electricity.

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Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski and Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; and Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.