Four people have died and at least 35 were hurt in a tornado that devastated a small town in Iowa on Tuesday, officials said.
It’s believed that the number of people injured is likely higher, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. The names of the deceased haven’t been released.
The tornado Tuesday afternoon left a wide swath of obliterated homes, splintered trees and crumpled cars in Greenfield, a town of 2,000 nearly 90 kilometres southwest of Des Moines.
Crews were searching through mounds of debris Wednesday.
“It’s still a search mission as far as we’re looking, to be sure all residents are accounted for,” said Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla.
Greenfield resident Kimberly Ergish, 33, and her husband dug through the debris field Wednesday that used to be their home, looking for family photos and other salvageable items. There wasn’t much left, she acknowledged.
“Most of it we can’t save,” she said. “But we’re going to get what we can.”
The reality of having her house destroyed in seconds hasn’t really set in, she said.
“If it weren’t for all the bumps and bruises and the achy bones, I would think that it didn’t happen,” she said.
Vehicle blown off road with driver inside
About 40 kilometres southwest of Greenfield, a woman died Tuesday when the vehicle she was driving was blown off the road near Corning, Iowa, the Adams County Sheriff’s office said. The woman’s name and age were not immediately released.
At a news conference Wednesday, neither Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds nor other officials would give details of the number of dead and missing in Greenfield, noting that the amount of devastation and debris made it difficult to be sure.
Later Tuesday, the storms pummelled parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers in the two states.
The severe weather turned south on Wednesday, and the U.S. National Weather Service was issuing tornado and flash flood warnings in Texas, as parts of the state — including Dallas — were under a tornado watch.
