Tornadoes cause destruction in Iowa as deadly storms race across state

DES MOINES, Iowa – A series of large, violent tornadoes struck the Hawkeye State on Tuesday, causing significant destruction and fatalities in some rural communities. Portions of Iowa, northwest Illinois, southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin were placed under a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Tornado Watch as rounds of powerful storms raced across the area, continuing a dayslong severe weather threat across the U.S. Less than 5% of all severe weather watches are given the Particularly Dangerous Situation tag, which signified forecasters' concerns about the outbreak. HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERDrone video shows tornado devastation in Greenfield, Iowa A violent tornado tore through central Iowa on Tuesday causing destruction in the town of Greenfield. Drone video showed several structures that were leveled and residents working to find storm victims. Several deaths were attributed to the severe weather outbreak, which was centered southwest of the state capital. An Iowa resident is believed to have been killed as a supercell raced through Corning in Adams County and at least two were killed in the Greenfield region. Search and rescue crews do not believe anyone is still missing from the storms but believe it'll take at least another day to determine exactly how many people were impacted during the severe weather outbreak. Several additional people were reported to be injured during the tornadoes across the the state.Tornadoes spotted across Iowa More than a dozen tornadoes were spotted over western and central parts of the Hawkeye State on Tuesday afternoon. Tornadoes were reported in Red Oak, Carbon, Corning and Greenfield, where damage was reported to power lines, wind turbines and homes. At least one wind turbine was on fire and lying propped against the ground in Prescott, Iowa, which is southwest of Des Moines.The FOX Forecast Center spotted debris on radar from two twisters that impacted Carbon and Corning and debris was being reported thrown at least 15 miles from a tornado that impacted Greenfield, Iowa. Greenfield has a population of around 2,000 people and is the heart of Adair County, Iowa. Video showed people searching through rubble from what was a large tornado. Due to the powerful display on radar, forecasters believe the twister was on the upper half of the Enhanced Fujita Scale Wind Scale. Damage appeared to be significant on the south and east sides of Greenfield around where the region's medical center sits. "Most of this town is gone…There's no other way to put it. Most of this town's gone," said FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic. PowerOutage.us reported more than half of Adair County was without power following the severe storms.Roads into and out of Greenfield were blocked by first responders in the hours after the severe weather to keep nonresidents out of the community. "So it came up pretty quickly. The storm was moving at 50 to 55 miles an hour. So they're coming in quickly. People had a decent warning…And, thankfully, 99% of the people that we had talked to had a good reaction to that warning and took shelter," said Copic. Parts of the Des Moines metro were also put under a Tornado Warning on Tuesday afternoon. A wind gust of 71 mph was reported east of Des Moines at the Newton Municipal Airport."I heard the train" Valerie Warrior is a lifelong Iowa resident and said one of the first signs trouble was on the way to Greenfield on Tuesday was when she started receiving texts from her family members. "So, I went downstairs, got my cat and I went into the furnace room. I was holding my cat for my whole life, and I was shaking, and I heard the train," Warrior told FOX Weather. Warrior said the storm lasted only about a minute but during that time period, windows broke, trees fell, and the small town was changed forever. "There's houses down and flattened next to me and all over the place. My house got hurt. It got some damage to the roof, with the front porch, windows are out, and the back garage got a hole in the roof, but nothing compared to the devastation all over town," said Warrior. The NWS office in Des Moines will survey damage over the next couple of days to determine the strength of the twister.