Tornadoes leave 5 dead in Midwest; more storms likely
5 dead, dozens hurt in scores of twisters; more storms to come
About 100 reports of twisters over the weekend; worst of storms slams Woodward, Okla.
CRESTON, Iowa — Parts of the Midwest were picking up the pieces and tallying the damage Sunday after scores of tornadoes roared through the Plains over the weekend, leaving five dead, dozens injured and homes reduced to rubble.
There were at least 120 reports of tornadoes Saturday and early Sunday, primarily in Kansas but also in northwest Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa, the National Weather Service said.
More bad weather was expected through this morning in the nation’s midsection. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., warned of more tornadoes and severe storms, the most dangerous likely in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
The city of Woodward, Okla., where five people died, including three children, bore the worst of the storms. Thirty others were injured. City Manager Alan Riffel said 89 homes and 13 businesses were destroyed, and bloodied survivors in the 12,000-resident town emerged to find flipped cars and smashed trailers.
The American Red Cross set up a shelter and planned to dispatch mobile feeding trucks to neighborhoods and offer assistance to weary residents.
“This was a horrific event, but I’ve come across people in the neighborhoods in high spirits because they’ve got their lives,” says Rusty Surette, a spokesman for the Central and Western Oklahoma region of the American Red Cross, which also opened a shelter in Norman, where a tornado struck Friday.
Two tornadoes touched down in southwest Iowa late Saturday, including one here in Creston, the National Weather Service confirmed.
“We didn’t receive any warning,” Police Chief Paul Ver Meer said.
There were no deaths, though, and only minor injuries, he said. Two homes were destroyed, and a hospital and other buildings were damaged.
Another unconfirmed tornado is believed to have devastated the southwestern Iowa town of Thurman, where at least 75% of the homes were wiped out or damaged.
“It’s a royal mess,” said Mike Creceli- us, director of emergency management for Fremont County. But no fatalities or injuries were reported.
Some 97 tornadoes swept through Kansas, leaving a dozen people injured but causing no deaths, said Steve Larson, spokesman for the adjutant gener- al, who oversees the state’s emergency management. Gov. Sam Brownback declared 37 counties in the central part of the state to be disaster areas. On Sunday, he flew to Wichita and nearby communities to see the damage firsthand, Larson said.
The severe weather ruptured gas lines, left thousands of Kansans without power and damaged roughly 100 homes in a Wichita mobile home park. Officials credited frequent early warnings about the coming storms to saving lives.
“That information, we put it out early and often, making sure people knew to take cover, to take shelter,” Larson said. “And I think that in large part kept people from dying or being hurt.”
Still, residents were struggling to cope with all they had lost.
Yvonne Tucker told the Associated Press that the tornado destroyed her home. She and other residents of her mobile home park in Wichita rode out the storm in a shelter.
“I didn’t think it was that bad until I walked down my street, and everything is gone,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go. I’ve seen it on TV, but when it happens to you, it’s surreal.”
Meteorologists had been warning residents of the central and southern Plains about the outbreak for several days. For only the second time in history, the Storm Prediction Center issued a “high” risk for severe weather more than 24 hours in advance. In all, local National Weather Service offices issued 124 tornado warnings Saturday, Erdman reported.
The weekend’s storms brought the number of people killed by tornadoes this year to 62, according to the Storm Prediction Center. In an average year, tornadoes kill about 60 Americans. The heart of the tornado season is still to come. May tends to be the busiest month.
By later today, the Midwest is likely to get a reprieve. Cooler, drier weather is likely for most of the areas that were hit by tornadoes over the weekend, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Ressler. The most severe weather is expected to be strong winds and possible large hail around the eastern Great Lakes. Heggen also reports for The Des Moines Register. Jones reported from New York, Rice from Silver Spring, Md. Contributing: The Associated Press.