Multiple tornadoes ripped through central Iowa on Thursday night, causing massive damage to structures, taking down power lines, injuring people and destroying homes.
While many Iowans are used to experiencing severe thunderstorms and tornadoes during the summer, The Des Moines Register said it's uncommon to not receive a warning from the National Weather Service hours in advance. National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Krull told the newspaper that on Thursday morning tornadic supercells didn't seem possible.
On Thursday afternoon, however, 27 tornadoes were reported—with Marshalltown, Pella and Bondurant taking the brunt of the storm, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. The National Weather Service said it would release the official number of tornadoes after it can survey the damage.
At around 4 p.m. CDT, a tornado directly hit an agricultural machinery factory owned by the Vermeer Corp. in Pella, causing structural damage to multiple buildings and injuring at least seven people, according to KCRG. The waste management building was destroyed, but the injuries people were treated for at the hospital were not life-threatening.
In Marshalltown, with a population of about 27,000, at least 10 people were injured and several homes and businesses were severely damaged, according to the Weather Channel. The cupola of the Marshall County Courthouse, which is a whopping 16 feet high, toppled to the ground during the storm. The National Weather Service announced reports of "catastrophic damage."
Newsweek reached out to the National Weather Service but did not receive a response in time for publication.
"It was bad. I've seen a lot of tornado stuff [in the past]," Julie Owen, who was in Marshalltown during the storm, told CNN. "It's not like the whole town is destroyed, but downtown, a city of this size, it was something else."
The UnityPoint Health facility building suffered damages and had to evacuate its patients to a nearby hospital, although no patients were reported to be injured. The emergency room remained open to treat injuries.
Downed power lines caused thousands of people to lose power. As of 7:36 a.m. CDT Friday, 7,844 people in Marshalltown were still without power, according to Alliant Energy's website. On Friday morning, the energy company said on Twitter that while some people will have power restored that day, "it will take several days for us to restore some areas of town."
A tornado that touched down in Bondurant damaged businesses, tore apart houses and caused a major gas leak, the city said in a statement on Facebook. Phone lines were also down, and City Hall, which was opened as a shelter, lost electricity during the storm. The statement praised volunteers for their efforts with the recovery process and said that within six hours of the storm, major debris from streets and parks had been cleared and put into piles.
The statement said the city "is extremely grateful for all of this assistance and proud to be home to so many caring people. The city is also extremely grateful that while this tornado brought significant damage, it did not result in loss of life."
Governor Kim Reynolds tweeted on Thursday that she was "devastated" after seeing the destruction and was praying for everyone affected, including the emergency crews that responded.
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