Page 6 - aruba-today-20180721

A6 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 21 July 2018
Iowa tornadoes hit unexpectedly, causing damage and injuries

By SCOTT MCFETRIDGE and commandant. He said the
DAVID PITT facility lost power but was
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — chugging along Friday on
Thousands of people were generators. On Thursday,
without power Friday after National Weather Service
a flurry of unexpected tor- meteorologist Rod Do-
nadoes swept through cen- navon said two primary
tral Iowa, injuring at least storms spawned the series
17 people and flattening of tornadoes. One devel-
buildings in three cities. oped in the Marshalltown
The storms even surprised area, while the other start-
weather forecasters when ed east of Des Moines and
they hit the region Thurs- traveled through Bondu-
day afternoon, causing rant and into Pella, about
extensive damage to a 40 miles (64 kilometers)
manufacturing plant and southeast of Des Moines.
prompting the evacuation The tornado in Pella hit
of a hospital. the agricultural machin-
In Marshalltown, where 10 ery maker Vermeer Manu-
people were injured, brick facturing, scattering huge
walls collapsed into the sheets of metal through
streets, roofs were blown a parking lot and leaving
off buildings and the cupo- A local resident runs past a tornado-damaged building on Main Street, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in one building with a gaping
la of the historic courthouse Marshalltown, Iowa. hole. People were still work-
tumbled to the ground. Associated Press ing at the plant at the time.
Seven more people were Seven people injured at
hurt when a tornado hit a and Pella on Friday. Mar- destroyed her husband's Veterans Home in Marshall- the plant were taken to
factory in Pella, though no shalltown, a city of 27,000 vehicle. But she said she's town sustained roof dam- Pella Regional Health Cen-
deaths have been report- people about 50 miles (80 relieved. age, but no residents or ter, hospital spokeswoman
ed. kilometers) northeast of Des "We went through a torna- staffers were injured at the Billie Rhamy said. They all
More than 5,800 customers Moines, appeared to have do and survived," Moz said. facility that houses nearly were released after being
remained without power been hit the hardest.The "I'm happy." 500 people, according to treated for their minor inju-
in Marshalltown early Fri- main hospital in Marshall- Some buildings at the Iowa Timon Oujiri, the facility's ries, Rhamy said.q
day, and natural gas ser- town was damaged and
vice has been shut down in all 40 patients at UnityPoint
part of the city, according Health were being trans- Puerto Rican evacuees get
to Alliant Energy. The util- ferred to the health system's
ity said crews have been larger hospital in Waterloo
dispatched to repair dam- and one in Grundy Center, another extension on housing
age and assess which ar- spokeswoman Amy Varcoe
eas can have gas service said. The emergency room
safely restored. in the smaller Marshalltown By MIKE SCHNEIDER keep the Transitional Shel- the vouchers on the main-
Forecasting models pro- hospital remained open to Associated Press tering Assistance program land, with 326, followed
duced Thursday morn- treat patients, Varcoe said. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Hun- going and he expects to is- by Massachusetts with 166
ing showed only a slight Ten people hurt in the storm dreds of Hurricane Maria sue an order on Aug. 6. families.
chance of strong thunder- had been treated, she said. evacuees from Puerto Rico The evacuees have been In new affidavits filed with
storms later in the day, said Stephanie Moz said she, who are living in hotels living in hotels on the main- the court, Puerto Rican
Alex Krull, a meteorologist her husband and 2-month- around the nation have land since they fled the is- evacuees said they feared
with the National Weather old baby were in the down- been given more weeks land after Hurricane Maria losing the housing vouch-
Service in Des Moines, said town Marshalltown cloth- to use temporary housing last September. Evacuees ers.
"It didn't look like tornadic ing store she owns when vouchers, after a federal sued the Federal Emergen- Elizabeth Delgado Santos
supercells were possible," tornado sirens went off. She judge extended a tempo- cy Management Agency came to Worcester, Massa-
Krull said. "If anything, we said the family sought shel- rary restraining order. earlier this month, just hours chusetts last January with
were expecting we could ter in the building's base- U.S. District Judge Timothy before the housing assis- her two children to live with
get some large hail, if ment and heard "cracking Hillman on Thursday ruled tance was supposed to her mother but her mother
strong storms developed." and booms and explosions" they can use the assistance end. kicked them out after a few
Gov. Kim Reynolds and as the tornado passed. through at least checkout Officials with FEMA said in weeks and they became
other officials were expect- The storm broke out a win- time on Aug. 7. a statement that partici- homeless. She started using
ed to visit damaged areas dow, ruining clothing and Hillman said he wants to pating hotels were being the vouchers last February
of Bondurant, Marshalltown hats on display there, and hold another hearing on notified about the new ex- at a Worcester motel. She
the evacuees' request to tension. FEMA is offering to said she has felt tremen-
cover the cost of evacu- dous fear and anxiety since
ees moving back to island being told the assistance
through the end of August. was ending, because she
As of Friday, 675 evacuat- has no other housing op-
ed families were using the tions and no support sys-
vouchers on the mainland tem.
and another 375 families "I would wake up and go to
were using the vouchers sleep at night with severe
on the island, according to stress and anxiety about
FEMA. Florida had the most where I would sleep with
evacuated families using my children," she wrote.q