Severe storms leave Buena Vista County with downed trees, power outages
Downed trees were the main toll in Buena Vista County after overnight storms, as crews checked damage and residents reported scattered outages across northwest Iowa.
Buena Vista County woke up to a mess of downed trees, scattered power outages and blocked routes after a fast-moving line of severe storms swept through northwest Iowa overnight and into Sunday morning. Buena Vista County Emergency Management said the worst local damage was mainly trees, and no injuries had been reported in the county during the outbreak.
The storm threat turned serious late Saturday, when a tornado warning was issued around 8:30 p.m. for northeastern Cherokee, northwestern Buena Vista, southwestern Clay and southeastern O’Brien counties after radar showed rotation near Cleghorn. The storm was capable of producing tornadoes and quarter-size hail while moving northeast at about 40 mph, giving communities from Storm Lake to Alta, Newell, Rembrandt and Truesdale only a short window to react.
Across the region, the damage was more severe in some places than in Buena Vista County. Reports said the hardest-hit area was farther west in Woodbury County, where a tornado may have touched down near Salix and Pierson, leaving homes damaged, trees down and residents without power. MidAmerican Energy reported more than 13,000 customers without power at the peak of the storm, including more than 5,600 in Woodbury County and more than 1,300 in Cherokee County.
The National Weather Service said wind gusts reached as high as 82 mph in parts of northwest Iowa, and the storm line tracked from near Sioux City and Salix through Kingsley, Cherokee and Milford. Emergency officials said the same weather system also left downed trees blocking some roads and the bike path in Dickinson County, adding to cleanup work across the region. No injuries had been reported in the Sunday night outbreak.
Local emergency managers urged residents to document storm damage quickly and use the state’s damage-reporting system to help officials gauge losses and recovery needs. Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management uses the Iowa Citizen Damage Reporter to collect damage-assessment data, and the tool is not a 911 service or an application for financial assistance. For Buena Vista County, that reporting matters now, as crews clear trees, check roads and size up whether the weekend storms exposed the same vulnerable spots that spring weather has tested before.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
