LAKE CITY, Iowa (AP) — No deaths or injuries were immediately reported from tornadoes that tore through central and eastern Iowa, but many found damaged buildings, shredded trees and overturned vehicles in the path of the storms, officials said.
Law enforcement and trained spotters confirmed several tornadoes Wednesday afternoon and night in mostly rural, uninhabited areas, the National Weather Service said. But one that touched down near Lake City in north-central Iowa damaged a home, flipped a truck and trailer and flattened nearby corn crops, The Messenger reported.
A building that houses school buses for South Central Calhoun High School saw part of its roof and doors torn off.
In northeastern Iowa, Oelwein Community School District saw its high sports stadium damaged by a tornado.
Jack Widner, of nearby Waverly, told television station KCRG that he tried to survey the damage, but was hindered by strewn debris.
“I was worried about our neighbor,” Widner said. “I couldn’t find his house, I found his shed was torn apart down there, but I couldn’t find his house and I couldn’t find the other neighbor’s house. All I could find was trees.”
The National Weather Service planned to send survey crews Thursday to several areas across the state where tornadoes were reported.
