Terrifying Tornado Tears Through Eastern Iowa
Pastor Dale Morgan
Terrifying Tornado Tears Through Eastern Iowa*
Saturday June 2, 2007 5:31 AM
BY DAVID PITT
Associated Press Writer
FRUITLAND, Iowa (AP) - A tornado flattened dozens of homes in three
eastern Iowa communities Friday, leaving a path of destruction that tore
through businesses and neighborhoods in the Mississippi River town of
Muscatine.
The twister ripped away the four walls of the post office in the town of
Fruitland, leaving a clear view of post office boxes and equipment
inside amid piles of rubble and tree limbs. In Muscatine, population
23,000, some roads were closed with fallen trees and were impenetrable
by car.
The tornado, with winds between 136 to 140 mph, struck the town of
Grandview, went north through Fruitland and dissipated in the Muscatine
area about 10 minutes later, said Jeff Zogg, a forecaster with the
National Weather Service in Davenport.
Several people were hospitalized, but none with serious injuries,
authorities said.
Heavy rains also poured across the region, causing flooding and several
traffic accidents, including one fatal wreck near Coralville.
Mark Husar, the general manager of a car dealership in Muscatine, said
he saw a cloud of debris blowing in his direction and quickly moved
employees and customers into a storm shelter.
``I've got 80 cars with windows blown out, two cars on top of cars, my
roof is ripped off,'' he said. ``Applebee's, which is about 50 yards
away - their front window is blown out and I've got McDonald's - they're
about one-and-a-half blocks away - in my lot. Their roof is partially
torn off.''
The ordeal lasted about 15 seconds, Husar said. Another car dealership
across the street was untouched, he said.
Between 15 and 20 roads have been closed while crews repair downed power
lines and clear the streets of debris, said Jeff Carter, Muscatine
County's emergency management coordinator. He expects most roads should
reopen Saturday.
``Some of it looks pretty bad,'' he said, noting that he's already seen
several homes with major damage.
``Boom, they're all gone,'' Carter said. ``Nothing but rubble is left.''
Gov. Chet Culver declared a disaster emergency for Jackson, Louisa and
Muscatine counties, authorizing state and local authorities to assist in
the cleanup.
In Grandview, a town of about 600, oak trees were shredded in various
parts of town and debris from flattened homes littered the streets. One
brick house stood roofless, while a few uprooted trees had busted
through a nearby garage.
Darryl Erickson, a pastor at Grandview Bible Church, said he was in his
office when the twister hit.
``All of a sudden it started getting darker and I heard a lot of wind,''
Erickson said. ``I looked out the window and saw stuff flying. And it
was all over just like that.''
His church sustained only minor damage and a downed power line. Nearby,
a roof had landed on a pickup truck.
Pizza Hut manager Gary Hawn said had a restaurant full of customers and
employees when the tornado alarm sounded in Muscatine.
He ushered everyone into the walk-in refrigerator. Moments later, it was
over, he said.
Hawn said he went outside and saw debris strewn across the parking lot,
including the roof of a nearby apartment complex. The signs of several
nearby fast food restaurants had blown off, he said, and other debris
had damaged and destroyed cars in the parking lot.
``We were lucky. The winds were really strong. We just got everybody in
the walk-in, and everybody was safe,'' he said.
Several buildings also sustained significant damage near Bellevue in
northeast Iowa, though weather officials said they have not confirmed
whether that was caused by a tornado.
In northern Oklahoma, high winds damaged about 100 homes in Enid,
uprooting trees and knocking out power to thousands of people early
Friday, authorities said. No one was injured.
Late Thursday, a tornado briefly touched down in the Oklahoma Panhandle,
destroying a garage and knocking over fences. No one was injured.