Tuesday afternoon at about 4:30 pm very severe storms rolled through our area in SW Iowa. They did a lot of damage in our area. There were 100+ mph winds, large hail, heavy rains, and tornadoes. At our farm we received 4.8″ of rain in just a few hours. We also received hail, but I don’t know how big it was because we were taking cover in the basement. We have never seen the winds that strong before. And it came in about three rounds of storms, the first being the worst. It was just crazy……
During round 1, Kevin went up to look out and check on things. Next thing I heard was that we were missing a grain bin and that the cattle were out. Not good! He went out and realized that it was just one calf but the fence was damaged due to the grain bin rolling through it in a few places. As soon as as it calmed down a bit, he went back and fixed the fence as best he could. We also learned at that time that his parent’s had gotten hit extremely hard.
Overall, at our farm we had very minor damage compared to others in our area. There are many farms that lost numerous grain bins, machine sheds, equipment, trees, and lots of damage to houses. Also many are still without power due to a lot of power lines down in the area. It’s just unbelievable.
Yesterday morning, Kevin and I spent in the office taking calls from our customers and turning in claims. Kevin dealt with the crop insurance claims and I was dealing with homeowners and farm insurance. After that we went to his parents and then drove around the country side to check on others. Then yesterday afternoon and evening we spent at Kevin’s parents clean up. It will take awhile, but it’s amazing how much better it looks with a few tractors, a skid steer, and lots of hands!
Below are pictures from our area. Lot of damage, but as far as I know there were no injuries reported. So thank you God for that…..
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| Lots of rain sitting in fields. |
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| Pieces of metal litter fields all over the place. |
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| Farmers in the area discussing the damage. |
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| This used to be a grain bin. |
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| This was a neighbors machine shed with a lot of equipment inside. |
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| Another neighbor lost quite a few grain bins. You can’t really tell the extent of the damage in this picture, but only 1 or 2 of those bins are usable still. |
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| Lots of mud washed down the fields. |
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| These were corn plants, but you can hardly tell where they were now due to the hail and wind. |
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| The north side of my in-law’s house. |
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| Kevin’s parents lost pretty much all of their trees. Many of them uprooted. |
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| You can tell the path that the water rushed down their yard. |
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| These linden trees were so pretty the day before. They were huge and shaded their whole front yard. |
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| At this farm we were told that a few of the guys had to take cover in the machine shed under a tractor which used to be on the left side of this picture. |
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| We were told that these huge power poles were suppose to withstand 130 mph winds. There are 20 of them down with some of them across some of the roads. |
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| This is our grain bin that ended up a good half mile from our house. |
Wow Sara! Glad you guys are all safe. Thanks for the info, updates & pictures. ~~ Jamie M.
Oh my goodness! So glad y’all are okay!
What unbelievable damage…the shot of the power lines gives some perspective as to the strength of the winds.
You’ll be in our thoughts and prayers as you begin the clean-up phase…looks like you’ve got a big job ahead of you.
Thank you Barbara!
Incredible damage. Where I live in Guthrie County we didn’t have any of that damaging stuff, just a lot of rain.
I’m so sorry to hear about (and see) the damage in your area. What a blessing that everyone is ok. Take care!
I’m sorry to hear about the damage. Thanks for sharing the photos. It’s good to see a visual on how bad things really were back there.