Des Moines, Iowa - stunned residents of nearby Winterset are reaching out to friends and neighbors on Sunday after a tornado ran through central Iowa City, killing at least six people, including two children under the age of five. Were.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster declaration for Madison County late Saturday, in response to a series of confirmed tornadoes triggered by a series of severe weather conditions that ravaged much of the Midwest. More Iowa counties could be added to the proclamation, Reynolds said.
More than 100,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and Iowa were dark at the peak of the storm. The killer tornado struck Winterset shortly after another confirmed tornado was reported near Corning, Iowa, 60 miles to the west in Adams County.
Des Moines International Airport halted flights and sheltered passengers in tornado shelters beneath the airport. In and around Winterset, a village of less than 6,000 people, farms and businesses were ransacked on the southwest edge of the Des Moines metropolitan area. In a matter of seconds, more than two dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, officials said.
"Our hearts hurt during this time, but I know Evans will step up and come together to help in this time of need," Reynolds said in a statement. "They already are."
The National Weather Service said early photos and video of the damage suggest the tornado was at least an EF-3 tornado – such storms can produce winds of more than 200 mph. The Weather Service said its team would conduct further investigations to assess the power of the twister.
Wendy Burkett said she and her husband moved out after receiving a tornado warning.
"And then we saw it. The tornado," he said. "There was debris flying around and it was getting louder and louder."
The couple and their children broke into their basement. As one lay on top of the other, trying to avoid flying, a window broke and water started pouring out of the pipe. It lasted maybe a minute, Burkett said.
"The storm was "the scariest thing I've ever experienced," said Madison County farmer Jane O'Neill.
"Our ears fluttered, it sounded like a vacuum," Jane said in an Instagram video that shows the rubble of the barn and other buildings on her farm. "We have nothing left but our lives and our home, but I am grateful for that, and everything else doesn't matter."
Diogenes Ayala, Madison County's director of emergency management, said the tornado struck around 4.30 p.m. local time. Ayala said four adults were also injured, three of whom were in danger.
Stacey Carter said she was on her way to Des Moines with her granddaughter when she got a call from her husband, who told her about the tornado and said she needed to go home as soon as possible.
She said her husband and daughter could barely reach the basement before the wind slammed the door behind her and the walls began to collapse.
Despite the devastation, she said she was not worried.
"I've lived here all my life," said Carter, who worked at Winterset Memorial Hospital. "There were people down here who were helping us right away. That's what we do here. They're the people of Iowa."