At least five people were killed and another 35 were injured as tornadoes tore through Iowa last Tuesday, leaving the town of Greenfield destroyed.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, four of the dead were from the Greenfield area while the fifth was killed about 25 miles away after her car got caught in a twister and was blown off the road.
While the names of the four victims from Greenfield were being withheld pending family notification, the Department of Public Safety identified the fifth victim as 46-year-old Monica Zamarron.
The tornado that ripped through Greenfield left a wide swath of destruction in its wake, with homes obliterated, cars crumpled into masses of metal, and trees fallen and splintered.
The massive wind turbines outside of the town of about 2,000 residents were also torn apart in the storm.
Last Tuesday’s tornadoes also hammered parts of Wisconsin and Illinois, leaving tens of thousands without power. The storms headed south last Wednesday, with the National Weather Service issuing flash flood and tornado warnings for parts of Texas.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that hit Greenfield was initially classified as an EF-3, however, damage assessments could lead it to be reclassified as a more powerful storm.
The small 25-bed hospital in Greenfield was one of the buildings damaged in the storm. Hospital officials said the facility would remain closed until the extent of the damage could be assessed. A temporary urgent care clinic was set up at a nearby elementary school.
Meteorologist John Porter said the Greenfield tornado stayed on the ground for over 40 miles. Satellite imagery showed the nearly straight path the twister took through the town just south of the center square.
This year’s tornado season has been especially bad, with April recording the second-highest number of twisters ever.
A new round of severe storms ripped through Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas over the weekend, leaving at least 18 people dead, including seven in Cooke County, Texas where a tornado tore through a rural area near a trailer park on Saturday night.