Storms pass through NE Iowa

[swestoyz]

Hey Gang ~

For those who live in the Eastern Iowa area - my thoughts are out to you this evening. Around 5 PM this evening a horrible storm started in Butler county - leveling approx. 300 homes in Parkersburg, IA - with the storm continuing on north of Waterloo/Cedar Falls to Dunkerton - then trekking towards Dubuque. Thankfully the storms stayed far enough north of Waterloo that I did not see a drop at the house while putting down a sealer on the three bedroom hardwood floors.

The same fate was not that of a coworker - here is one of my HVAC guys Jeff (left) helping out some friends near Dunkerton. Surprised to see that even CNN.com is covering this.

I know of a few here in the area - Cory in CF and Morgan from the VCCC in Dubuque. Anyone else - send a shout out so we know you are okay.

Ben

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www.cnn.com

 

[vinvac]

Ben,

Thanks for you concern! We had just got back into town when the tornado sirens sounded here. It did not seem bad when they first sounded but they had tracked the twister in a town called Dyersville which is approx. 40 minutes from our home.

Mark gathered up the pets here and flashlights ect, to get ready to head for the basement, while he was doing that I went to two of our elderly neighbors homes to make sure they had heard the sirens and see if they needed help getting to the basement.

The storm stayed south of town and then crossed the river into IL. A town called Galena where we had just came home from. We called to warn our friends there, just as we called the tornado sirens sounded there as well. I don't believe any damage was done other than heavy rain and wind. We had heavy rain, hail and wind here, but no damage....we were very lucky. Tornado activity is very scary as you never can be sure of it's path, they can turn or change course on a whim. Also, a tornado of this size often spawns several smaller funnels that can cause equal amounts of damage.

Hugo MN also received some damage from this twister. It is very rare that one tornado stays on the ground or in the air for as long as this appeared. There were reports that peoples personal belongs were being dropped from the sky as far north as Prarie DuChien WI, which is about an hour and a half north of Dubquque on the opposite side of the Mississippi River.

I have also posted some pictures of the local news report of the damage in Parkersburg IA on the Vacuum Land web site. Now the death toll is at 7. The mayor of the town feels that so far everyone has been accounted for. I know the twister did touch down in several other places and I hope that everyone here and at Vacuum Land that live in IA are safe. The storms also hit IL and WI.

It was a scary night, my thoughts and prayers go out to anyone involved in this awful act of nature.

Morgan

 

[laundryshark]

The Shark Did Not Drown!

...Nor did he get blown away. LOL! Seriously, we did have the sirens sound off briefly in Cedar Rapids, as there was apparently a tornado or funnel cloud spotted near Marion, but it moved out towards Springville and other small towns to the east. Other than some high winds and street flooding in downtown Cedar Rapids, most of us are doing OK. Furthermore, there were also some power outages, but I did not experience any.--Laundry Shark

 

[gyrafoam]

Glad to hear you guys are o.k.!

 

[cadman]

Extremely lucky....

The tornado passed by less than a mile away from "the lodge". After hearing the report on the radio (and being across town with a load of lumber) we went out to see if anything was still standing. Thankfully just things strewn about the yard. Unfortunately, those nearby were not so lucky. A friend's father that lives a short distance away actually saw the funnel cloud coming for them...about 200 yards out it lifted off the ground and passed by sparing their house. Unbelievable. The neighboring country homes were not so lucky.

I texted a friend who lives in Parkersburg (where the worst damage was) since he's a volunteer EMT, knowing he wouldn't have time to answer his phone. Rec'd a message today: "Everything is gone."

Attached are some pics from last night....

 

[cadman]

These are the powerlines less than a mile down the road from "the lodge". For those unaware, "the lodge" is a mid-century inspired structure I've been hand building for the last 2+ years with the intent of moving in this fall. Miraculously undamaged. There's a serious number of downed poles there...

 

[cadman]

Shot taken on Beaver Valley Road where a number of houses were destroyed. Gawking had really slowed down traffic to the point where police officials were blocking intersections. If the tornado wasn't enough, heavy rains and hail followed.

 

[gansky1]

Glad to hear everyone is OK. We only heard about the storms last night after seeing the posts online and a call to make sure Fred and Pat weren't driving last night. The storm season this year has just been scary, it doesn't hurt to refresh your memory on disaster procedures and preparedness - for everyone!

What a terrible loss for everyone there, the human spirit is a remarkable thing and can bounce back and even higher when faced with such devastation. I hope the recovery is speedy.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Gawkers!

People driving through the neighborhood while I was trying to clean up after our tornado in 2001 made me furious. What could they say, "Have some damage?"

"Thanks, I have enough already."

It got so that if anyone looked like they might be about to speak, I would put the chain saw to another tree part so I could not have heard them anyway. The remains of our beautiful old trees were stacked so high at the curb that it looked like Valhalla ready for the conflagration.

Is it not feasable to build homes like bunkers partially tucked into the ground with the excavated earth forming a bit of a hill over the structure in places where tornados hit with any frequency? One of my grandmothers lived in West Union, Iowa, but fortunately that did not seem to be a tornado-prone area.

I am glad to hear that our members and friends are safe. Tom