GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — More severe weather was coming Thursday for parts of the Midwest where this year’s deadliest tornado so far killed four people and injured nearly three dozen as it wreaked havoc in the small city of Greenfield, Iowa.
Before Tuesday’s twister carved a path through Greenfield and sent family mementos flying far away, the deadliest tornado in 2024 killed three people in Logan County, Ohio on March 14.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center shows an enhanced severe storm risk late Thursday into Friday morning for much of Nebraska and western Iowa, including those areas hit by tornados on Tuesday after hurricane-force winds, large hail and torrential rain flooded streets and basements in parts of Nebraska.
The new risk for severe weather — including possible tornadoes — in Iowa will come “when people are sleeping," warned NWS meteorologist Andrew Ansorge of Des Moines.
“A lot of these people have already experienced damage to their homes and property that might be hit again with rain and wind. Because of the damage already there, it won’t take much wind to inflict even more damage on these homes,” Ansorge said. “It’s just a bad deal all the way around.”
More severe weather also could hit Saturday and Sunday in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas already ravaged by recent storms. An emergency was declared in Temple, Texas, after powerful storms ripped through the city of more than 90,000. Thousands lost power, Thursday’s classes were canceled and nearby Fort Cavazos reported debris blocking traffic at the Army installation.
In Iowa, the Greenfield tornado obliterated homes, splintered trees and crumpled cars in the town of 2,000 about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Des Moines. The twister also crumpled massive power-producing wind turbines outside the city. It was initially rated at least an EF-3, but the National Weather Service could determine it was even more powerful after a full ground survey.
It was so destructive that it took authorities more than a day to account for the area's residents, and Iowa's Department of Public Safety said the number of injured is likely even higher. Officials haven’t yet released the names of the Greenfield victims.
A fifth person was killed Tuesday about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Greenfield when her car was blown off the road in a tornado, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Monica Zamarron, 46, died in the crash Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has requested an expedited presidential disaster declaration for those Iowa counties that sustained significant damage. The White House announced that FEMA’s administrator would be in Iowa on Thursday.
Digging through a debris field that used to be their home in Greenfield, Kimberly Ergish and her husband searched for family photos and other salvageable items. There wasn’t much left. The reality of having their house destroyed in seconds hadn’t really set in.
“If it weren’t for all the bumps and bruises and the achy bones, I would think that it didn’t happen,” Ergish said.
This is a historically busy tornado season in the U.S., in an era when climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world. April had the country's second-highest number of tornadoes on record.
Through Tuesday, 859 tornadoes had been confirmed this year, 27% more than the U.S. sees on average, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Iowa has so far recorded the most, with 81 confirmed twisters.
On Tuesday alone, the National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports, with 21 in Iowa.
The Greenfield tornado appeared to have been on the ground for more than 40 miles (64 kilometers), AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said. A satellite photo taken by a BlackSky Technology shows where the twister gouged a nearly straight path of destruction through the town, just south of Greenfield’s center square.
“Debris was lifted thousands of feet in the air and ended up falling to the ground several counties away from Greenfield. That’s evidence of just how intense and deadly this tornado was," Porter said.
About 90 miles (145 kilometers) away, in Ames, Iowa, Nicole Banner found a yellowed page declaring “This Book is the Property of the Greenfield Community School District” stuck to her garage door like a Post-It note. “We just couldn’t believe it had traveled that far,” she said.
Greenfield's 25-bed hospital was so damaged that at least a dozen injured people had to be taken elsewhere. Hospital officials said in a Facebook post Wednesday that they'll remain closed and full repairs could take months. Meanwhile, an urgent care clinic was set up at the elementary school, with primary care services to start there Thursday, the post said.
Roseann Freeland had waited until the last minute to rush with her husband to a concrete room in their basement. Seconds after the twister passed, they opened the door "and you could just see daylight,” Freeland said. “I just lost it. I just totally lost it.”
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Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski and Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; and Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri, contributed.
Hannah Fingerhut And Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press
