Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Multiple Tornadoes Reported in Iowa as Severe Weather Sweeps Midwest

Eric Chaney and Drew MacFarlane
Published: November 11,2015
A powerful low-pressure system swept through the Midwest, spawning severe thunderstorms and high winds. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa, which was among numerous states reporting damage from the fast-moving system.
(FORECAST: November Storm Ramps Up over Central U.S.)

Illinois

A barn was thrown into a roadway in Jo Daviess County Wednesday evening as severe weather moved through the area, law enforcement officials reported. One home near Menominee had its roof blown off and rescues were performed, the National Weather Service reports, but no injuries were reported.
The NWS in Lincoln, Illinois, reported a semi blown over on Interstate 74 near mile marker 125 Wednesday evening.
Officials in Hancock County reported numerous instances of structural damage on the east side of La Harpe, where a wall was reportedly  blown out of a car dealership and a home shifted off its foundation.
The NWS office in Davenport is estimating wind gusts of 60 mph blew a tree 4 feet in diameter down onto a house in Industry, Illinois, Wednesday evening. Knox County emergency officials said a portion of the roof was blown off a church in East Galesburg and a semi was blown over on I-74 near mile marker 49.
Nearly 15,000 people were without power in northern and central Illinois at one point Wednesday night, reported utility provider Ameren, including 99 percent of customers in Brown County and nearly half the customers in Henderson County. MidAmerican Energy reported an outage affecting nearly 5,000 customers Wednesday night, while ComEd reported nearly 7,000 customers were without power, including more than 1,200 in Chicago, late Wednesday evening.

Iowa

The National Weather Service has confirmed one tornado and reported at least nine more in Iowa connected to Wednesday's severe weather.
An EF-1 tornado with an estimated peak wind speed of 110 mph touched down in a cornfield 2 miles west of Avoca on Wednesday. The storm traveled northeast, damaging a grain bin and spreading debris toward Interstate 80. The tornado crossed the highway, where it tossed an eastbound tractor trailer across the median into the ditch on the westbound side.
Emergency officials in Appanoose County reported that a tornado destroyed a home near Iconium on the north side of Lake Rabun.
A tornado reported near Barnes City in Mahaska County caused extensive tree damage and destroyed several farm buildings. Damage to telephone poles was reported along Barnes City Road along with damage to trees and buildings on the west side of the town.
Storm damage to a home in southern Monroe County south of Melrose.
(Twitter/KIIC)
Near Adel, a southwest to northeast damage track was reported just after 3p.m. local time, including a barn that was partially destroyed. The NWS also reported a large limb through the roof of a house.
Injuries have been reported in connection with an overturned semi trailer on Highway 14 south of Knoxville. The NWS reported a possible tornado in the area around 3:45 p.m. Numerous fallen trees have been reported as well as roofs blown off of buildings.
Airport tower controllers at the Des Moines airport reported seeing the funnel cloud with a circulation on the ground, at 3:30 p.m. The NWS in Des Moines reported damage to National Guard trailers at the airport and trailers at a building across the street.
A tornado was reported 5 miles east of Winterset moving northeast at 40 MPH Wednesday afternoon. There were no immediate reports of damage.
Emergency management personnel in Ringgold County reported several instances of damage Wednesday afternoon that may or may not be associated with multiple tornadoes near Benton. Officials indicated there was debris and power lines down near a farm.
A second tornado reported southeast of Kent flattened two barns, broke several windows and possibly damaged several roofs.
Storm damage in Knoxville, IA, where a reported tornado blew through the area at roughly 4 p.m. local time.
(Matt Coker/Twitter)
According to the NWS in Des Moines, Corning emergency personnel reported a tornado touched down at 2 p.m. local time Wednesday, estimated by radar. The storm caused damage to several buildings in the industrial park on the west side of town. The tornado was spotted by building employees, the report says, and trees were blown down; several roofs and oxygen tanks were also damaged. A trained spotter reported a semi truck blown over by high winds on Highway 34.A trained spotter in Scott County reported that high winds destroyed a cinder block shed at Glendale Cemetery in Le Claire, throwing individual blocks up to 30 yards. Several trees were sheared off at the base, and a house southeast of the cuty had its roof completely blown off.
MidAmerican Energy reported 6,500 customers without power in and near Des Moines.
The NWS in Des Moines reported two roofs blown off of buildings in Jasper County.
Mike Lamb, who oversees the emergency management agencies in four counties in southern Iowa, said Wednesday evening that damage was "very localized at this point." Four homes in NW portion of Appanoose County and two in Monroe County.  Lamb said that utilities have been impacted, but as of early Wednesday night there were no reports of injuries or fatalities.

Kansas

High winds snapped a tree off its base outside of Eason Elementary in Waukee, IA.
(Jennifer Hazen/Twitter)
The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities reportedthat more than 1,600 customers without power Wednesday. Westar Energy reported 3,550 customers without power in central and eastern Kansas, while the utility company Empire reported nearly 1,500 customers wthout power.The National Weather Service office in Springfield, Missouri, reported several grass fires across southeastern Kansas due to strong winds. There were also numerous reports from law enforcement of power lines down due to strong winds across Crawford, Bourbon, and Cherokee Counties, the NWS reports.

Oklahoma

At least one house and one barn in Lenepah went up in flames due to a large wildfire that broke out Wednesday afternoon, Osage Sky News reports. The fire was one of several burning across the state, fanned by high winds that followed severe weather earlier in the day.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management requested the evacuation of Lenepah and Delaware in Nowata County earlier that afternoon. The Oklahoma Forestry Services issued a red flag warning for most of the state lasting until 6 p.m. Wednesday due to high winds across the region.
"Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph have been reported throughout that region due to the strong low-pressure system moving by to the north," said weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen. "Nowata County missed out on precipitation from this storm system, so conditions were also dry."
According to a KFOR report, Jones Middle School outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was evacuated after a power pole snapped near the school, likely due to high winds. No injuries were reported immediately following the incident.
Adam Snider @AdamSniderKFOR
Jones Middle School evacuated, after power pole snaps near school. No injuries, high winds likely a factor @kfor

Missouri

The severe weather in Missouri caused a chlorine gas leak Wednesday evening at a water treatment plant in Parkville, outside Kansas City, KMBC reports. Tanks of chlorine at the site are fitted with special caps that tighten when the power goes off and reopen when the power comes back on. One of the caps failed after the power flickered on and off numerous times due to the heavy weather in the area.
"Northwesterly winds were still gusting over 40 mph near Parkville Wednesday evening, and in a way that would have been good because all that air rushing by would have diluted any cloud of chlorine gas that may have tried to form," said weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen.
According to KMBC, crews contained the leak just before 8 p.m, and no evacuations or injuries were reported.
Kansas City Power & Light reported that nearly 18,000 customers were without power late Wednesday afternoon across its territory in western Missouri and far eastern Kansas. The vast majority of those outages were on the Missouri side of the line, including 6,000 customers in Kansas City proper. The outages were primarily the result of strong winds behind the cold front as skies cleared, and not from thunderstorms.
KCP&L showed 11,000 customers still in the dark as of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Ameren reported a smattering of outages across the northern half of the state, amounting to about 2,000 customers at one point Wednesday evening.
The NWS in Kansas City reported a tree down on a house and multiple carports destroyed in Putnam County, with multiple reports of damage on the east side of Unionville. The NWS has also reported a large portion of shingled roof blown off in Grundy County around 2:45 p.m. local time.

Wisconsin

Iowa County officials reported power lines down in Dodgeville as well as a tree felled by a lightning strike.
This is a breaking news article. Please, continue to check back for updates.
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