Injuries, Property Damage Reported from Tornadoes in Iowa, Wisconsin

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Thunderstorms that spun off tornadoes as they rumbled across Iowa injured at least two people, mowed down crops and damaged homes and farm buildings. In Wisconsin, at least one person was reported injured, as well.

Tornadoes were reported on June 28 in several eastern Iowa counties. Linn County authorities said a woman was injured when the roof of her garage collapsed on her near Prairieburg. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Several semitrailers were overturned at Nagel Grain on the south side of torn, and a roof was torn off a Prairieburg home.

Another tornado reported near the Linn County Fair in Central City sent fairgoers to shelters. Trees and tents were damaged but no fairgrounds buildings. No injuries were reported.

A wind gust of 80 mph was reported near Monfort, and golf ball-size hail and heavy rain were reported in the Des Moines area.

Fremont County authorities in western Iowa said a tornado touched down in a rural area between Sidney and Shenandoah, flattening crops.

Dee Ossian, 66, told the Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald that she and her 7- and 12-year-old grandsons were hurrying to shelter in an outdoors root cellar at her home near Shenandoah when swirling winds tugged the boys away from her.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Ossian said. “I was scared for them — they were literally being blown across the yard.”

They stayed low to avoid the wind and soon crawled to safety in the cellar, she said.

The younger boy, Sam, suffered a few scrapes, Ossian said. The storm ripped off her home’s roof, destroyed two sheds and uprooted some trees. A nearby home sustained similar damage, officials said.

Tornadoes were also reported in Wisconsin on June 28. One struck about 4:30 p.m. east of River Falls in Pierce County. The twister damaged several homes, churned up large trees at their roots and flipped vehicles on their side near Martel, an area that sustained most of the damage.

The injured person was taken to a hospital, but there’s no condition report, Pierce County emergency manager Gary Brown said.

Margraf said another tornado touchdown was reported by law enforcement to the north near Siren in Burnett County about 5 p.m. The tornado damaged a barn and trees.

Other touchdowns were reported between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. near Dover and Chester in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Margraf says those touchdowns were brief and caused minimal tree damage.