This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge
Parts of Iowa were left devastated as several tornadoes carved a path through the state. In Marshalltown, a city of 27,000 people around 50 miles northeast of Des Moines, roofs were peeled off buildings like tin cans, buildings were flattened, and the cupola of the historic courthouse was blown 175 feet to the ground as city officials declared a state of emergency with a 9pm curfew.
OH MY GOD. WATCH as an observed tornado just rips these houses to shreds in this Bondurant neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/SEwtuyWGFa
— KCCI News (@KCCINews) July 19, 2018
Debris goes flying as a tornado touches down in central Iowa, where several people were injured as severe storms moved through the area. https://t.co/aSC6Ixthco pic.twitter.com/xR0R138tQF
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2018
Video shows tornado striking Marshalltown, Iowa, causing courthouse tower to collapse. ?: @b_hernandez21s pic.twitter.com/Hzxn4veeiD
— BuzzFeed Storm (@BuzzFeedStorm) July 19, 2018
Residents have been asked to stay out of the north part of town, as downed power lines, gas leaks and debris pose a danger.
Video from Brian McMullen of the tornado that moved through #Marshalltown #iawx @weareiowa5news pic.twitter.com/y2Va0Hegrd
— Taylor Kanost (@WxKanost) July 19, 2018
The damage was widespread, as the emergency room at the Marshalltown hospital remained open to treat injured patents, while the main hospital evacuated 40 patients, according to UnityPoint Health hospital spokeswoman Amy Varcue. Ten people injured by the storm had been treated by 7pm Thursday, while the extent of their injuries are unknown.
A spokesperson for UnityPoint Health in Marshalltown said the hospital sustained damage from the tornado as well and that 40 patients were being evacuated.
UnityPoint Health spokeswoman Amy Varcoe, who is based in Des Moines, said it was unclear how severely the UnityPoint hospital in Marshalltown was damaged, but the patients were relocated to the health system’s medical centers in Waterloo and Grundy Center and said they are “unable to treat incoming patients.” –KCCI
Tornadoes didn’t sapre Vermeer Manufacturing, which makes farm and construction equipment in the town of Pella around 40 miles southeast of Des Moines. Giant sheets of metal were scattered throughout a parking lot, as warehouses were destroyed.
The company which makes hay balers, mowers and equipment for the pipeline and forrestry industries employs around 2,800 people. CEO Jason Andringa said that 400 dealers and customers were in town this week to celebrate the company’s 70th anniversary, according to KCCI.
Vice President of Operations Vince Newendorp said the east half of the company’s campus, which includes seven manufacturing buildings, sustained extensive damage.
He said the plant activated its storm warning system and workers were in shelters when the storm hit. –KCCI
Pella Police Lt. Shane Cox told KCCI that several plant workers were taken to the hospital, however the number of people and the extent of their injuries are unknown. Emergency responders entered the damaged building to search for any trapped victims.
Feel very lucky – took a direct tornado hit in downtown Marshalltown with my sister – pic.twitter.com/s6Gt10DQbr
— Golfergirldee (@golfergirldee) July 19, 2018
Pieces of wood deeply pierced into the bumper of this car in Marshalltown. #Tornado damage always is frightening. #IAwx pic.twitter.com/pKWJpQa7ZP
— Nick Stewart (@NStewCBS2) July 20, 2018
Tornado’s aftermath: Vehicles flipped over and piled on top of one another in the parking lot of a central Iowa company where several people were injured as severe weather made its way across the region. https://t.co/DiOiUkfw2Q pic.twitter.com/AOFOapIqEq
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2018
North of Altoona, double tornado. Wow man. Wow. #iawx pic.twitter.com/y5M3oSZmo5
— Stefanie the First of Her Name Queen of twitte®? (@jbelcap) July 19, 2018
Amazing.
This is why I love having a basement. If I was a real estate builder, all my properties would have really cool man cave type basements, wine and cheese cellers.
_
Praying for y’all.
Wind Blew & shit flew! Its possible to prep for this type thing. Root Cellar stocked with preps and you can tell FEMA to kiss ass. Watch the insurance companys try and weasel out and not pay. Tell Vemeeer to come to Arkansas. Every town has empty manufacturing buildings they can have for free if they bring jobs so the tax base grows.
Arkansas has empty factory bldgs everywhere because of the damage Huckabee did passing laws that helped Tyson import thousands of foreigners. This greatly lowered the wage levels there, and strengthened a Union pushback. Huckabee decimated the factory environment there by his favoritism to Tyson.
Vermeer is better off rebuilding in Iowa. We’re not pumping in foreigners to make cheap labor for chicken factories.
In the tropics, I was talking to a local and he was taking down coconuts. He was worried because they can become projectiles during hurricanesand one was comin’ and he had been hammered by one a decade prior.
Every property has potential issues. A guy once made a video on picking property and excluded various parts of the USA based upon many factors. Joel Skousen made books about this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXC7_Tn2rOE
Often there mightbe risks but the odds are way in your favor as the wost case scenario SELDOM happens. Still, you should factor in many parameters to ideally live somewhere safe.
You got to realize that while some remote places might have the attributes you want, unless you can adapt to the agricultural restrictions, it won’t work. Say you live in Montana. Well can you raise a reasonable amount of fodder and cut enough firewood and grow enough food and have enough rain and is your soil good enough?
And then say you like some places Appalachia or Maine. Well they might both have advantages like Maine might have abundant firewood, coastline, game, salt, fishing, but the people willnever accept your family for a hundred years because Mainers are very insular. And Appalachia has unique issues with meth labs, hillybilly mafia, and is the most insular place outside of Japan. They hate strangers…sometimes openly but can be loyal to a fault and if you win them over and don’t tell what to do, be the best shieldmate you could ever imagine. They will have your six.
If you don’t have a good basement or a tornado shelter, you are supposed to go to a interior room. The problem is that you have time to think and wish you had paid out the money to get some kind of underground shelter. Better to go quickly and unexpectedly.
If you and your family escape tornadoes intact and with your house and cars undamaged, you’re still not out of the woods. If your workplace is destroyed, your employer might call it quits or relocate.
Just stop building houses made of sticks in tornado ally. Just stop.
With foam-crete you can even make an incredibly strong roof that just won’t fail and is totally fire proof as well.
I’ve read about entire houses made that way and accounts where a in Tornado Alley house took a direct hit with no real damage. Owners also say they are very quiet to live in–unless they are making the racket. They aren’t cheap but what is anymore.
True. Geodesic domes stand up to wind well also. Wind seems to have a problem getting a grip on them. If course the have a “hippy” stigma. This even though they are 1920s technology. Go figure?
If I was building a house and only had the money to harden one room. It would be the garage. Your cars are the most expensive single items you own, and are critical for getting away, or continuing life. With the tools in my garage, I could build a new house. With the camping supplies stored there I could live in that garage. When designing it include in the hardened area a bath room and a big walk in closet, airlock the entry into the rest of the house through this area.
I knew a family who built a two car garage, that had a kitchen sink, bathroom and heat. They moved into that garage while the father built the rest of the house. Took him a month to put up the garage, and two years to finish the house.
Yes. Back in the late seventies, craftsmen routinely worked 40-60 hours and then additionally built their own homes. They would finish a room in the basement and live there as best as they could. Their families lived elsewhere in some cheap home which they later rented. When the whole basement was liveable, they might move their wife and kids there. Then slowly finish the main floor. Then finish the second floor.
Instead of building 2 story houses where you walk up, build 2 story houses that go down. The “top” can be your garden, etc.
OR, if you continue to build a “normal” house, have everything of value at the basement level, and everything you don’t mind blowing away “above” ground.