Damage from 'significant' outbreak of tornados still being assessed

Apr. 1—A day after tornado-producing storms rolled through eastern Iowa and northern Illinois, meteorologists with the National Weather Service, Davenport, were still trying to count how many tornadoes touched down and survey the damage.

Andy Ervin said he spent the day surveying damage that occurred north of the Quad-City metropolitan area.

"We would need a hundred people to get all of the surveys done in a day," Ervin said Saturday. "We got some significant tornadoes in the area. We don't have a number yet, but it was one of the most significant tornado outbreaks that we've had in this region."

Ervin said the tornado that struck Charlotte was an EF2, packing estimated winds of 121 mph and cut a path 350 yards wide and 17.48 miles long. That tornado developed over Grand Mound, where it collapsed a house, trapping three people. One of those people was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

The damage included snapped utility poles, as well as damage to barns and outbuildings. That tornado ended in Goose Lake.

The tornado that struck the Moon River Cabins and Riverview RV Park in Bellevue in Jackson County was an EF1 with estimated speeds of 104 mph, Ervin said. The path of the tornado was about 100 yard wide and 5.46 miles in length.

Bellevue Police Chief Dennis Schroeder said in a news release on Friday that the tornado struck about 6:20 p.m. The twister uprooted many trees and flipped over campers. Cabins were destroyed, with some being flipped over and thrown into the river. Three people were taken to area hospitals.

Ervin said that tornado ended about 2 miles southeast of Rice in Jo Daviess County in Illinois.

An EF2 tornado packing an estimated 122 mph winds touched down 3 miles southeast of Rochester in Cedar County and ended 2 miles northwest of Big Rock in Clinton County. That twister measured 200 yards wide and covered 19.63 miles.

Ervin said that tornado snapped utility poles and large trees and caused significant damage to two houses southwest of Bennett, Iowa, as well as a couple of concrete-block silos south of Bennett.

Chance Kness, the emergency management coordinator for Clinton County said Saturday that everything "is stabilized."

"There's a lot of recovery to be done, but in terms of life and safety and incident stabilization, all things are in good shape," Kness said.

"There could be a few people still without power, but most of it is back on," he added. "We had a few families displaced because their homes were destroyed. We're helping them move toward their new future home. They're also working with their insurance companies on that."

Ervin said he was unsure if Scott County had a tornado, or if it was a funnel cloud.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a Disaster Proclamation for 12 eastern Iowa counties on Saturday after storms that produced tornados damaged property and injured several people.

Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Johnson, Keokuk, Linn, Mahaska, Wapello and Washington counties were named in the proclamation.

Also activated by the proclamation is Iowa's Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program for the counties.

The grant program provides up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. The grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of food and clothing, and temporary housing expenses. The application is available at https://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs.

No damage was reported in Rock Island County other than some tree damage and power lines being felled, but MidAmerican Energy reported no power outages Saturday.

In Mercer County, Sheriff Dusty Terrill said there were a lot of trees and power lines down and a couple of barns collapsed. A number of businesses and residents were still without power, he added.

No damage to houses has been reported, Terrill said, and there were no reports of injuries.

Ervin said Saturday that meteorologists were keeping an eye on a storm system moving along the Pacific coast from Alaska that, if it comes together just right, could produce severe storms that could impact the Quad-City region and eastern Iowa on Tuesday afternoon into the evening hours.

That system will begin moving toward the Midwest after it reaches the "four corners" of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

"That system could produce another severe weather event along a similar path that Friday's storms took," Ervin said. "It'll take a few days to get here, but if it comes together right we could see some more severe weather."

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