Tuesday, millions of people across the Midwest and Great Plains states were at danger of tornadoes, including those in Iowa, where multiple twisters made landfall close to Des Moines, severely damaging the area.
At a press conference on Tuesday night, Sgt. Alex Dinkla of the Iowa State Patrol reported that a “devastating” tornado had struck the town of Greenfield, Iowa, which is southwest of Des Moines. The tornado caused fatalities and injuries in the area.
According to Dinkla, despite suffering storm damage, the Adair County Memorial Hospital team—which provides care for Greenfield—managed to treat patients and transfer some to other local hospitals for additional medical attention.
According to the officer, search operations started on Tuesday night, and officials were trying to offer a precise and unambiguous list of individuals impacted.
“We believe we have everyone accounted for, but we are conducting extensive searches to be thorough,” he stated.
For portions of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, and Oklahoma through Tuesday night, the National Weather Service had issued tornado watches.
The National Weather Service issued many tornado warnings and declared nearly the whole state of Iowa to be in a “Particularly Dangerous Situation.”
Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa approved the creation of a disaster emergency for fifteen counties on Tuesday.
Adair, Adams, Cass, Clay, Hardin, Harrison, Jasper, Kossuth, Marshall, Montgomery, Page, Palo Alto, Pottawattamie, Tama, and Warren are among the counties.
Des Moines, Chicago, and Milwaukee were predicted to see damaging winds of 70 to 90 mph starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing into the evening.
Over a hundred severe storms were recorded on Monday, spanning from Colorado to Michigan. Severe weather is currently widespread over the Midwest and the Great Plains.
There was no notable damage despite at least three tornadoes being confirmed in Colorado, Nebraska, and Minnesota on Monday.
Hailstones the size of golf balls to softballs pelted Yuma, northeastern Colorado, damaging vehicles and structures. According to JJ Unger, a volunteer firefighter in Yuma, there was a moment when the hail was so deep that it trapped several cars.
“It was like a blizzard hitting for a half hour because of the hail,” Unger stated. “That’s the longest I’ve seen it hail like that.”
Unger reported that on Monday night, while he and his fire department were out looking for potential tornadoes, lightning struck and hail started to fall.
Related:
- Kansas in Turmoil: Powerful Storms Bring 100-mph Winds and Baseball-Sized Hail
- 13 Tornadoes Strike Three States; More Severe Weather Expected
- Tornado Emergency Declared in Oklahoma: Immediate Shelter Advised
According to Unger, “it was very intense,” and he and his team were forced to pull over and find cover as visibility dropped to nearly nothing.
Unger reported that his fire engine and the nearby roadways were covered in a foot of hail when the storm eventually stopped. He claimed that both his wife’s car and his pickup truck had broken windshields.
“Almost every home in town has broken windows and I’ve heard that over a thousand cars were damaged,” Unger stated.
According to local emergency management officials, hail with a diameter of two inches dropped in Dundy County, in the southwest part of the state of Nebraska. Moreover, reports of winds over 90 mph came from Dundy County.
Potential record heat is approaching Texas and the Northeast, while severe weather is predicted to affect the Great Plains and Midwest through Thursday.
By the middle of this week, temperatures in Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C., could flirt with ninety degrees.
