Iowa town flattened as tornadoes cause fatalities and devastation in US Midwest | US News

An unknown number of people have died after a powerful tornado ripped through a small Iowa town.

Dramatic images showed the destruction left in Greenfield, and police confirmed that there were deaths and at least a dozen injuries, without being able to provide concrete figures.

The devastation occurred when multiple tornadoes ripped through the American Midwest.

At least three 250-foot-tall wind turbines were knocked down by an apparent tornado in the Southwest Iowa.

A turbine was on fire and black smoke was billowing from the bent structure.

Authorities said most of Greenfield, with a population of about 2,000 people, had been destroyed and rescue efforts were continuing in an attempt to find survivors.

Buildings, including homes and businesses, were demolished, trees were smashed, and vehicles were thrown into the streets and littered with piles of debris.

Sergeant Alex Dinkla, spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol, said, “This tornado has devastated a good portion of this city.

“Unfortunately, we can confirm that there have been deaths. We are still counting at this time.”

He said Greenfield Hospital was among the buildings that were damaged, meaning at least a dozen injured people had to be moved to facilities elsewhere.

Residents helped each other rescue their belongings while trying to come to terms with what had happened.

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Rogue Paxton said he took shelter in the basement of his home when the storm passed.

He told WOI-TV he thought his family was lucky not to lose their home.

“But everyone else isn’t so much, like my brother Cody, his house just got leveled,” she said.

“Then you see all these people here helping each other.

“Everything is going to be fine because we have each other, but it’s going to be very, very difficult. It’s a disaster.”

The storms followed days of extreme weather that has devastated much of the central United States.

High winds, large hail and tornadoes hit parts of Oklahoma and Kansas on Sunday night, damaging homes and injuring two people.