MARSHALLTOWN — The cleanup continues in Marshalltown after Thursday’s devastating tornadoes.
Chainsaws buzzed across effected areas of town as residents and volunteers picked up branches and debris and hauled it to the curb.
More than 1,500 homes and businesses were damaged by the storms in this city of 27,000. Of those, 35 were destroyed and 267 sustained major damage.
The Marshall County Landfill has waived drop-off fees for residents and businesses whose property was damaged by the twisters and has received hundreds of loads already.
The city was opening a storm recovery center today at the Marshalltown High School, bringing many different resources to one place.
Alliant Energy had repaired gas service Monday and was in the process of relighting pilot lights. Alliant has 40 workers in the field and was getting extra help from 15 MidAmerican Energy gas crews to get service back quickly and safely, The Marshalltown Times Republican reported.
More than 2,000 Alliant customers remained without electricity Monday, the utility reported.
The Marshalltown High School cross country, volleyball and football teams pitched in Monday to help residents clean up, several media outlets reported.
That came after all 120 members of the Iowa State University football team, including some auxiliary staff, came to help out Saturday.
A curfew remained in effect Monday night until 5 this morning for downtown and other areas hit by the storm.
Also Monday, the National Weather Service raised its count of tornadoes in the flurry that struck central Iowa.
A dozen or more occurred Thursday, with three accounting for 17 injuries and significant damage in Bondurant, Marshalltown and Pella. The service reported Friday morning the total was five — a figure that was expected to climb as more information poured in.
No deaths have been reported.
The service also rated the severity of the twisters. The Bondurant tornado was rated an EF2 with estimated peak winds of 115 mph. The twisters that hit Marshalltown and Pella were rated EF3, with peak winds estimated at 144 mph.
The Pella and Marshalltown twisters were the strongest to hit Iowa since a June 22, 2015, tornado of the same strength passed through Marion, Lucas and Monroe counties.
Marshalltown was hit hardest. Officials said 10 people were injured and at least 28 people were relocated to an emergency shelter.
Some of the worst damage was to the historic courthouse and brick buildings that line the city’s picturesque town square. Officials and property owners have worked for years to spruce up the buildings, only to see them devastated in minutes.
“Since 2002 we’ve spent $50 million in building renovations and now to see these, I’m just sick,” Jenny Etter, executive director of the Marshalltown Central Business District, a nonprofit group, told CBS News. “We were making giant strides in restoring the downtown, so this is really devastating to us because we were on a roll. These buildings were beautiful.”
At the 132-year-old courthouse, a blue tarp flapped over a gaping hole atop the clock tower after the cupola tumbled to the ground.
The tornado ripped the clock tower from the courthouse, knocked down the walls of a 911 communications center and devastated the Lennox heating and air conditioning plant, one of the town’s largest employers. Officials said the storm destroyed about 50 buildings and damaged hundreds more.
UnityPoint Health-Marshalltown also “sustained a direct hit,” according to regional marketing communications director Laura Rainey.
No patients or staff were hurt at the 49-bed acute care hospital, but 43 patients were evacuated to other area facilities, including UnityPoint-Allen Hospital in Waterloo and Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center.
Marshalltown Fire Chief Dave Rierson said the town suffered “significant damage” about six to eight blocks west of its downtown and another 12 blocks to the east.
by Courier Staff(2018, July 23/Updated 2018, July 24)
