Tornado in the USA kills five and devastates the state of Iowa

Rescue teams search for victims in a community in Iowa, United States, which was devastated by a tornado this Tuesday (22). At least five people died and another 35 were injured.

According to local authorities, the phenomenon mainly affected the city of Greenfield, Iowa.

More than 100 rescuers search for victims amid the wreckage. The city's hospital suffered structural damage and some patients were transferred to other nearby medical units. At least four medical flights have taken place in the last few hours.

A makeshift hospital was created in the town's lumber yard shortly after the tornado left the area.

“We pulled a man out of the rubble and placed him on a makeshift stretcher we made for him in the back of a truck,” recalled Ray Sorensen, a resident of the area.

The damage to the city is immense. The video made by the affiliate of CNN KCCI, shows that homes and other structures were destroyed, cars were thrown and trees were uprooted.

“It’s horrible,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. “It’s hard to describe until you can actually see the devastation.”

At least 18 tornadoes were recorded in Iowa on Tuesday (21) – the storm also generated power outages, structural damage and flooding across the US this week.

Tornado reports have skyrocketed and are above average in recent weeks. The more than 800 tornadoes reported so far make 2024 one of the most active years for the phenomenon on record.

More than 50,000 homes and businesses are in the dark in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, according to PowerOutage.us.

Strong winds, hail and a few tornadoes are possible across the state from Texas to Vermont.

Energetic storms were seen this Wednesday (22) in parts of Oklahoma.

Cities such as Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Memphis, Cleveland, Tulsa and Columbus, Ohio, are also expected to be hit by the heavy rains.

Some Iowa neighborhoods were left in ruins

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds declared a state of emergency for 15 counties. The city of Greenfield is the epicenter.

A tornado also knocked down a massive wind turbine south of Greenfield in Prescott, Iowa, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed in Montgomery County, including some “critical public facilities,” emergency management officials said.

“There’s basically nothing left,” Clel Baudler, a former Iowa state representative who lives half a mile from Greenfield, told CNN on Tuesday.

Greenfield resident Valerie Warrior pleaded with God to protect her home and family before leaving the storm in her basement, she told KCCI.

“I was in the furnace room and then I heard (the storm) like a train,” she said, describing insulation flying from the basement windows. “I heard it, and I knew it was knocking.”

Warrior said the scale of damage is devastating to see, but she is confident that residents will pull each other through the crisis.

“They will get through this. You already see people helping each other, working together. And that's what they do, people come together when tragedy happens. People come together to support and encourage each other.”

Fighting back tears, Warrior looked at the rubble scattered across his neighborhood and tried to muster a smile.

“We will rebuild,” she said. “We will rebuild.”

Source: CNN Brasil

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