Violent Weather Wreaks Havoc in Midwest

DES MOINES — Powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through the Midwest Friday, toppling trucks and utility poles and ripping roofs off buildings.

There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

At least two tornadoes were spotted, including one in Kossuth County in northern Iowa that damaged a nursing home.

“The roof on the south wing, which would cover the lobby and common area, has been blown off,” witness Bob Ketchum said.

“The ground is white with hail” in Hovarton, Iowa, said Jim Kelley, the Kossuth County Emergency Management director. “There’s water standing everywhere. Tree limbs and branches are shredded all over the place. The houses are covered with tree leaves.”

A train derailed near Otteson during the storm, and the roof of a tool factory in Algona, Iowa, was blown off.

“We’re still getting reports of broken [electric power] poles called in,” said a local power company official. “We’re going to have a lot of work to do here.”

Windows were blown out of a number of businesses, and grain bins lost their roofs.

“We have one house where a very large tree fell and smashed the house down to the first floor,” said Ed Anderson, the police chief in Essex, in far southwest Iowa.