Tornado stuns Iowa town but residents say they'll rebuild

Debris lies on the ground as residents clean up after a tornado swept through Bondurant, Iowa, Thursday, July 19, 2018. A flurry of tornadoes swept through central Iowa Thursday afternoon, flattening buildings and damaging the courthouse in Marshalltown and hitting an agricultural machinery plant in Pella as people were working. (Brian Powers/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Damage to production plants at Vermeer Corp., a farm and construction equipment manufacturer in Pella, Iowa, is seen in an aerial view, Thursday, July 19, 2018, after a tornado went through the area. (Rodney White/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Structures throughout Marshalltown were hit by the Thursday afternoon tornado but some of the worst damage was to the historic courthouse and brick buildings that line the city's quaint town square. For years, officials and property owners have slowly worked to spruce up the buildings, only to see them devastated in minutes.

"Since 2002 we've spent $50 million in building renovations and now to see these, I'm just sick," said Jenny Etter, executive director of the Marshalltown Central Business District, a nonprofit group. "We were making giant strides in restoring the downtown so this is really devastating to us because we were on a roll. These buildings were beautiful."

A worker cleans up debris from the tornado damaged Marshall County Courthouse's tower Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A local resident runs past a tornado-damaged building on Main Street, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

At the 132-year-old courthouse, a blue tarp flapped over a gaping hole atop the clock tower after the cupola tumbled to the ground.

Local officials promised to rebuild, but some residents were too shocked to make plans.

Local residents walk past a tornado-damaged building on Main Street, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A local resident rides his bike past a toppled street sign on Main Street, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Crystal Jensen, tears running down her face, said the storm passed in just three minutes, but it left her house in ruins and blew away photos and a bracelet from her father.

"I just lost my dad two months ago and this happened," she said. "I'm kind of at a loss."

Terri Shetler, owner of an embroidery shop on the town square, was digging out her 2017 Toyota Sienna, missing a front quarter panel, windows blown out and filled with mud, shingles and wood slivers.

"I'm pretty shaken. I came out and saw the courthouse and all this," she said. "But it can be replaced."

Roy Schweinebart, of Marshalltown, Iowa, shovels bricks from a tornado-damaged building near Main Street, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A local resident leaps over rubble from a tornado damaged building, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The tornado that hit Marshalltown was among a flurry of unexpected twisters that swept through central Iowa on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people and flattening buildings in three cities.

The National Weather Service said Friday that at least five tornadoes and likely more struck. Meteorologist Jeff Johnson said it will take days to determine their strength and total number.

A tarp covers the top of the tornado damaged Marshall County Courthouse, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Vehicles are covered in rubble from a tornado damaged building, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Marshalltown, a city of 27,000, was hit hardest. Officials said 10 people were injured and at least 28 people were relocated to an emergency shelter.

About 200 workers from several states were scrambling to replace 500 utility poles and restore power to thousands of customers, said Alliant Energy spokesman Justin Foss. Natural gas service remains shut down in part of the city, he said.

The local hospital will be closed for an undetermined period after the building was damaged and 43 patients were taken to nearby communities. The hospital emergency and urgent care services were moved for now to another building in Marshalltown.

Jenny Etter, of Marshalltown, Iowa, surveys tornado damaged businesses on Main Street, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A flag sits in rubble in front of tornado damaged building on Main Street, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Tornadoes also ripped through the central Iowa cities of Pella and Bondurant, damaging homes and a factory.

Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the cities Friday and then said she'd signed proclamations that would immediately provide help from state agencies, including providing dump trucks to remove debris and asbestos removal.

A local resident looks inside a tornado damaged building, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Utility workers repair downed power lines, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

"This is the widest area and the most destruction," she said in Marshalltown. "Multiple buildings and facilities. It's just unbelievable when you take a look at the devastation and destruction that we see."

In Pella, seven people suffered minor injuries when a tornado hit the agricultural machinery maker Vermeer Manufacturing, scattering huge sheets of metal through a parking lot and leaving one building with a gaping hole.

Terri Shetler, of Marshalltown, Iowa, removes debris surrounding her tornado damaged van, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Several buildings were damaged Thursday evening by a tornado in the main business district in town including the historic courthouse. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The National Weather Service confirmed it was an EF3 tornado, with winds about 144 mph.

Several homes were destroyed in Bondurant.

Storm chasers spotted a tornado on the ground Monday in rural Oklahoma while large hail pelted parts of Kansas as forecasters issued a rare high risk warning for the two states with the possibility of long-track twisters.

The greatest risk of damaging weather includes areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed four and left thousands without power late last month. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.

The storm chasers detected several small funnels emerging from clouds before identifying a twister near the small 1,000-person Oklahoma town of Okeene. No damage was immediately reported, but the National Weather Service warned those in the area to take shelter.

Meanwhile, apple-sized hail of 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) in diameter was reported near Ellinwood, Kansas, a town of about 2,000 residents 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Wichita.

The National Weather Service said that more than 3.4 million people, 1,614 schools and 159 hospitals in Oklahoma, portions of southern Kansas and far north Texas, face the most severe threat for tornadoes.

In all, nearly 10 million people live in areas that could be affected, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.

Schools and colleges across the state, including the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Public Schools and several metro-area school districts, shut down early and canceled late afternoon and evening classes and activities.

Oklahoma’s State Emergency Operations Center, which coordinates storm response from a bunker near the state Capitol, remains activated from last weekend’s deadly storms, and the state’s commissioner of public safety told state agencies to let most of their workers across Oklahoma leave early on Monday.

Monte Tucker, a farmer and rancher in the far western Oklahoma town of Sweetwater, spent Monday putting some of his tractors and heavy equipment in barns to protect it from hail and letting his neighbors know they can come to his house if the weather becomes dangerous.

“We built a house 10 years ago, and my stubborn wife put her foot down and made sure we built a safe room,” Tucker said. He said the entire ground-level room is built with reinforced concrete walls.

Tucker said there’s not much you can do to protect cattle from severe storms, but he said the animals tend to know when the weather turns threatening.

Bill Bunting, deputy director of the Storm Prediction Center, said a high risk from the center is not something seen every day or every spring.

“It’s the highest level of threat we can assign. And it’s a day to take very, very seriously," he said.

The last time a high risk was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system tore through parts of the South and Midwest including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.

The risk on Monday in parts of the southern Plains is the worst in five years, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.

“If you look at a meteorology textbook about how to get a significant tornado outbreak in the southern Plains, all the ingredients you need are here today,” Porter said.

Cities that could see stormy weather include Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska.

The number of storms and their intensity should increase quickly in the evening hours across western parts of Oklahoma and up into south-central Kansas, Bunting said.

The expected thunderstorms could produce winds up to and potentially exceeding 80 mph (49.71 kph), according to Porter. Even worse, those “supercell” storms can produce destructive tornadoes.

“The kinds of tornadoes that this storm can produce are particularly intense, and they can be long-lasting,” Porter said. “These are the tornadoes that sometimes can last for 45 minutes or an hour, even more, creating paths of destruction as they move along.”

The high risk is due to an unusual confluence: Winds gusting up to around 75 mph (46.60 kph) have been blasting through Colorado’s populated Front Range region, including the Denver area, on Monday.

The winds are being created by a low pressure system north of Colorado that is also pulling up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, fueling the risk of severe weather on the Plains, said Greg Heavener, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Denver-area office.

Colorado is not at risk of tornadoes or thunderstorms, he said.

The dangerous Plains weather will move east, potentially creating overnight risk in places like Kansas City and Springfield in Missouri through early Tuesday, Porter said.

“This is not going to be a atmospheric setup where the sun is going to go down and the thunderstorms are going to wane and there’s going to be no additional risk," noted Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini. "The risk for tornadoes tonight will continue into the evening and overnight hours making it very challenging.”

The entire week is looking stormy across the U.S. The eastern U.S. and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.

Meanwhile, floodwaters in the Houston area began receding Monday after days of heavy rain in southeastern Texas left neighborhoods flooded and led to hundreds of high-water rescues.

Bunting advises people in the affected areas to develop a severe weather plan.

“Make sure that you have ways to communicate with your family members,” he said. “Make sure everyone knows where their shelters are,” and how they can continue to receive warnings.

This story has been updated to correct that heavy rain fell over southeastern Texas, not southwestern Texas.

St. John reported from Detroit, Michigan. Murphy reported from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Associated Press writer Colleen Slevin contributed to this report from Denver, Colorado, and Heather Hollingsworth from Mission, Kansas.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

A tornado spins west of Hawley, Texas, as cars pass on U.S. 277 on Thursday May 2, 2024. (Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)

Clouds amass over power lines follow days of storms on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Humble, Texas. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A mailbox is partially submerged on a flooded street in an unincorporated area in east Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024. The nearby San Jacinto River, overflowing due to heavy rainfall earlier this week, caused the flood waters. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)