Rescue workers clear rubble and debris after tornado ravaged the small town of Greenfield, Iowa. Photo Credit: AP.
Authorities in Greenfield, Iowa, said Wednesday that five people have been confirmed dead in a deadly tornado that ravaged the small town on Tuesday, with an additional 37 people injured.
Several businesses were destroyed as a violent tornado tore through Greenfield, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Video footage showed overturned and smashed cars, broken wind turbines, and flattened buildings.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, four people died in the Greenfield area. A woman, Monica Zamarron, 45, was killed in a crash on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
Kimberly Ergish, 33, a resident of Greenfield, told The Associated Press that she and her husband dug through the debris field on Wednesday, where their home was located before the storm, to look for family photos and other personal items that they could salvage from the wreckage of their home.
“Most of it we can’t save,” she said. “But we’re going to get what we can.”
“If it weren’t for all the bumps and bruises and the achy bones, I would think that it didn’t happen,” she said.
At a press briefing Tuesday night, Iowa police confirmed there were fatalities but could not provide numbers. As the storm swept through the town, it left debris scattered across the landscape. .
With a population of 2000 people, Greenfield, a small town in the Midwest located 50 miles from Des Moines, is experiencing its deadliest tornado.
About a dozen people injured in the disaster were taken to hospitals outside the area because Greenfield’s hospital was severely damaged during the storm, according to Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla.
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Nebraska also suffered power cuts for tens of thousands of customers as tornadoes and heavy rain devastated the area.
In a statement, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said she will visit Greenfield on Wednesday morning to assess the damage.
“It was just a few weeks ago that tornadoes hit several other Iowa communities, and it’s hard to believe that it’s happened again,” Ms. Reynolds said.
“Iowans are strong and resilient, and we will get through this together,” she added.
Sgt. Alex Dinkla told reporters on Tuesday night that a good portion of Greenfield had been devastated as a result of the tornado.
“We’re still counting at this time,” he said on Tuesday night, noting that the number of dead was not known at the time.
Authorities in Greenfield are continuing with search and rescue operations on Wednesday morning, with at least one reported dead.
The dead is a woman whose car was blown off the road during the storm, about 25 miles southwest of Greenfield, according to the Adams County Sheriff Office on Wednesday. She was killed by a twister during the storm.
As of Tuesday, her identity was yet to be made public, and she was the only one traveling in the car at the time.
The majority of tornadoes suffered in the U.S. this year occurred in April.
Iowa has experienced 81 tornadoes this year alone.
“Sadly, we can confirm that there have been fatalities,” Dinkla said at a news conference Tuesday night.
As of Tuesday night, authorities said there were no reported missing persons.
A triage center was set up at Greenfield High School to cater for fatalities, according to the Adair County Health System in a Facebook post.
A mandatory curfew was imposed in Greenfield on Tuesday night, which lasted until Wednesday morning, and journalists were ordered out of town.
Several residents helped to clear out debris across the town and to recover furniture and other personal effects.
Rogue Paxton, a resident in the area, told WOI-TV that he sheltered in the basement of his home when the storm started.
“But everyone else is not so much; like my brother Cody, his house just got wiped,” Paxton said. “Then you see all these people out here helping each other. … Everything’s going to be fine because we have each other, but it’s just going to be really, really rough. It is a mess.”
A staff member at the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce office told The Associated Press that her office closed around 2 p.m. before the tornado began.
“I can see from my house, it kind of went in a straight line down the road,” she described the tornado.
A business owner, Mary Long, who owns Long’s Market in downtown Greenfield, told The Associated Press her business was spared the damage. Her business is located in the community’s historic town square.
“I could hear this roaring, like the proverbial freight train, and then it was just done,” Long said.