Central Iowa ravaged rural communities Wednesday morning after what police described as a “catastrophic” tornado, killing an unknown number of people.
Iowa State Police confirmed several people died Tuesday in Greenfield, a town of about 2,000 people about 40 miles southwest of Des Moines.
There were 18 tornado warnings across Iowa on Tuesday, as well as one each in Wisconsin and Minnesota, adding to an already exceptionally busy tornado season.
Sergeant Alex Tingla said at a news conference that at least 12 people were being treated at hospitals — although the city’s Adair County Memorial Hospital was also damaged, forcing the first victims to be taken to facilities elsewhere.
Severe weather is expected to move away from the Midwest and toward the Southern Plains and Mississippi Valley on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said, with large hail, wind damage and tornadoes possible across Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
In total, about 44 million people will be at risk of severe weather in a large area of the United States, from Texas to upstate New York. Flood watches are in place for 8 million people, including the Dallas metro area, which could see more than 3 inches of rain this afternoon and evening.
The threat continues through Thursday for about 20 million people from Memphis to New England.
Aerial footage from Greenfield, filmed late Tuesday, showed streets in the tornado’s path littered with broken trees and piles of debris among wrecked cars.
A man in nearby Red Oak, Montgomery County, captured a scene Large funnel cloud Sirens blared and heavy rain moved through the area.
Several confirmed tornadoes damaged at least 28 homes, Montgomery County Emergency Management said in a statement, with damage ranging from “damaged to destroyed.”
Windmills destroyed near Prescott, Iowa. Winds were strong near Nevada City, Iowa. Overturn a semi truck Stopped on a highway due to extreme conditions. There were no reports of related casualties.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster in 15 counties and was scheduled to visit the area Wednesday.
The situation in Iowa is so dire that the weather service said it was sending three teams from its Des Moines office to survey the tornado damage, with results expected Wednesday night.
Elsewhere, large hail in Colorado removed casings from buildings and shattered car windows – NBC affiliate Almost Hail at times was the size of a baseball, Denver reported.
In Omaha, Nebraska, flooding caused by 4 to 8 inches of rain washed away cars and left some stranded.
Omaha’s NBC affiliate WOWT Mike Troy spoke to local man and school football coach, Mike Troy, whose home was on the newly created island. The water was not considered deep enough to justify a rescue, he said.
According to the Energy Connection Monitor, more than 70,000 energy customers were without power in Texas after days of severe weather. PowerOutage.us67,000 people were without power in Wisconsin.
