Iowa tornadoes hit unexpectedly, causing damage, injuries
DES MOINES (AP) — A flurry of unexpected tornadoes swept through central Iowa, injuring at least 17 people, flattening buildings in three cities and forcing the evacuation of a hospital.
Residents — and even weather forecasters — were taken by surprise on Thursday as the tornadoes hit Marshalltown, Pella and Bondurant.
Ten people were injured in Marshalltown and seven at a factory near Pella, but no deaths were reported.
Alex Krull, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said forecasting models produced on Thursday morning showed only a slight chance of strong thunderstorms later in the day.
“This morning, it didn’t look like tornadic supercells were possible,” Krull said. “If anything, we were expecting we could get some large hail, if strong storms developed.”
Marshalltown, a city of 27,000 people about 80 kilometers northeast of Des Moines, appeared to have been hit the hardest. Brick walls collapsed in the streets, roofs were blown off buildings and the cupola of the historic courthouse tumbled 175 feet to the ground.
The only hospital in Marshalltown was damaged, spokeswoman Amy Varcoe said. All 40 of the patients at UnityPoint Health were transferred to the health system’s larger hospital in Waterloo as well as one in Grundy Center, she said.
Marshalltown resident Stephanie Moz said she, her husband and twomonth-old baby were in the downtown clothing store she owns when tornado sirens went off.
The family sought shelter in the building’s basement and heard “cracking and booms and explosions” as the tornado passed.
The storm broke out a window, ruining clothing and hats on display there, and destroyed her husband’s vehicle.