Southeast Iowa was hit hard with severe weather yesterday afternoon. Downed power lines are still throwing a wrench in todays plans, Salem Elementary will not have school today due to loss of power but staff is to report as normal.
Lee County spotted a total of 3 tornados in the county. Overturned semis, sides of buildings gone, debris, and downed power lines. Damage at Hwy 16 and 150th avenue resulted in a closure yesterday afternoon, as of this morning the span of Hwy 16 from 150th to 130th is still closed.
Yesterday just before 4:30 in the afternoon, Mount Pleasant Fire Department reported a tornado touchdown south east of Mount Pleasant heading East. The tornado followed Highway 34 wreaking havoc on powerlines. The West side of New London saw damage to homes, downed trees, a barn obliterated, and machine sheds ripped apart.
The tornado then headed Northeast through Burge cemetery. Jesse Howard, President of Burge Cemetery said, “The impact has been significant, damaging hundreds of headstones, shredding nearly every tree, and completely destroying our historic shed built in 1921. In light of the current situation, our primary focus is to ensure that the families affected by the storm receive the necessary assistance to restore their homes to livable conditions. We understand that their needs should be prioritized, and therefore, we have decided to postpone the cleanup process until Thursday.”
North of New London on New London Road, Quaker Avenue, and 250th Street saw extensive damage. Homes were destroyed, debris littered fields, outbuildings were lifted from their foundations, and residents arrived in droves to assist those affected. Residents and first responders uncovered basement entrances, boarded up windows, and tarped no longer existing roofs.
Damage was also reported in Yarmouth, IA.
No injuries have been reported. Walt Jackson of Henry County Emergency Management has a working list of homes damaged by yesterday’s storms, if you experienced damage you can email Walt at wjackson@henrycountyiowa.us or call the office and leave a message at (319) 385-1479.
Kevin Wheeler, General Manager and CEO of Access Energy Cooperation confirmed power was restored to almost all members by midnight last night. The only member still without power is moving a manure spreader that was displaced into the lines by the storm. Wheeler thanks everyone for their patience.
As of 8:45 a.m. this morning Alliant Energy is working to restore power to 17 residences North of and around Salem with power restoration expected at 9 this morning, 796 residences around the Houghton area with power restoration expected about 10:30 this morning, and 40 residences with an estimated power restoration time of 10 am.
When yesterday’s storms passed, a double rainbow took the place of dark skies. Thank you to all of the hard working utility workers, first responders, and everyone that showed up to help their neighbors.