Towns begin rebuilding after tornado
Death toll stands at 6
By Lee News Service | Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Aplington-Parkersburg High School, bottom, is damaged with the rest of Parkersburg, Iowa, on Monday a day after a tornado struck the town. (AP Photo)
State and federal officials toured the devasatation in Parkersburg and New Hartford Monday morning, vowing to come to the aid of the hurting people of Butler County.
State and federal officials toured the devasatation in Parkersburg and New Hartford Monday morning, vowing to come to the aid of the hurting people of Butler County.
"There's so much hurt here, I don't know where to start," said a shaken Sen. Charles Grassley, whose home town of New Hartford was also severely hit by Sunday night's tornado.
"We'll make it through this, but there is so much hurt here," he added.
Gov. Chet Culver said that there were more than 400 homes affected by the tornado -- 220 of them destroyed along with 21 businesses in Parkersburg.
"We are here as much as anything to give our support," Culver said.
Culver said he has asked from the White House for federal aid to come to the community.
Also, the National Guard is bringing in additional troop support to help with cleanup and protection of the city.
"We are resilient as Iowans and we will get through this," a somber Culver said.
He thanked the volunteers, the Red Cross and Hy-Vee for stepping up and helping in the aftermath.
Dave Miller of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management said the devastation is "tremendous."
The tornado tore through Parkersburg about 5 p.m. A total of six people have been killed -- four in Parkersburg and two in New Hartford.The numbers stand the same: four dead in Parkersburg and two dead in New Hartford. There are about 70 people with various injuries. Family and funeral homes have identified three of them. The official release of their names will not come until Tuesday at the earliest, officials said.
Relatives identified one of those killed in New Hartford as Norman Beuthine, 48, of 325th St., New Hartford.
Dike Funeral Chapel identified two of the others as Leasa Bleeker, 71, of New Hartford, and Shirley Luhring, 71, of Parkersburg.
Beuthine's girlfriend and companion of three years, Renee Kincaid, was taken to Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls and was in critical condition, Beuthine's family said.
School year ends
The school year has ended for the students of Aplington-Parkersburg High School.
The building is not structurally sound after being severely damaged by Sunday's tornado, said Principal Dave Meyer.
"We may be rebuilding the whole thing," he said.
Officials were attempting to save the sports memorabilia. To add to the problem, the football field behind the school also was damaged. The bleachers and scoreboard sustained heavy damage.
Meyer said other school districts have stepped up to help with summer programming already set up. He said officials will have to determine what do with the high school students next fall. There is a middle school and two elementary schools in the district, which encompasses Aplington and Parkersburg, so they will need to look to see if they can use those facilities until a new school or repairs can be made.
The cleanup in Dunkerton
Mike Krall of rural Dunkerton dodged the bullet after his farmstead took a direct hit from the tornado.
"I'd be dead if I stayed here," Krall said. Sunday night he was at the races in Vinton when he was told the tornado struck his house.
One out of the five buildings on his farmstead survived. His house collapsed into his basement. Thick lumber beams were splintered into toothpicks.
The storm was strong enough to throw the chassis of his 1970 Chevy Chevelle more than 500 yards into a farm field.
"Here's the door handle," he said, pulling a silver object out from under a bush near his house.
The chassis was ripped from the car's body.
Krall said he plans to rebuild his house where he has lived for 15 years, but in the meantime, he said all he can do is cry.
More than a dozen people showed up at his house to help him recover. At the time, they were trying to move the walls so he could recover some belongings.
Down the road, Jim Dos was confronting an equally grim prognosis. "We just aren't going to have anything left when it is all said and done," Dos said.
Dos and his father, Rodger, raise chickens and hogs on their farm on Mount Vernon Road. The tornado damaged most of his buildings and parts of two houses on the property.
In one of his barns, there were 50,000 baby chicks. There are another 120,000 in a second barn. More than 100,000 were probably alive, but Dos said he will probably have to write it all off because of the amount of damages to the buildings.
The farm is recovering from a fire several years ago and Dos said he expects the damage from the storm to add to his years of recovery.
Returning to homes
In Parkersburg, residents were returning to their homes to sift through the debris and salvage what they could. There is clothing strewn in trees and cars upside down everywhere.
"I guess I don't know where to start," said Beth Bruns, a Parkersburg resident whose new home was destroyed while the family was out of town.
Some longtime residents felt disoriented as they returned in what should have been familiar neighborhoods. Tears turned to laughter as survivors tried to find some solace in the devastation.
Others, including Clarence Karsjens, said it was too soon to look ahead. He didn't know where he would live. "Haven't even thought about it," he said.
Parkersburg is still without water and electricity, so residents are only allowed inside the city limits until 8 p.m. today when the town will be evacuated again.
I've talked to quite a few people whose homes have been leveled and are gone. They are just thankful they are alive and not injured," said Parkersburg Mayor Robert Haylock.
The American Red Cross Hawkeye Chapter and Grant Wood Area Chapter are mobilizing disaster relief workers to meet the emergency needs of those in the areas affected.
In the Parkersburg and New Hartford areas, Red Cross volunteers are continuing with disaster assessment and are providing feeding to emegency workers and residents. The shelter at the Aplington School remains open.
In Dunkerton, the shelter at the school is now closed, as well as the shelter in Hazleton.
There still is not electricity to the city, but MidAmerica was to send 80 crews to the city Monday and Tuesday to get power back to the city. Power should be stories to everyone north of Third Avenue by Thursday.
Power was restored Monday to New Hartford.
Jim Saunders with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said efforts to volunteer for cleanup are appreciated but not needed.
However, cash donations will be accepted by the Red Cross at (319) 234-6832 of the Salvation Army at 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
Saunders said the damage estimate is as follows: 400 homes damaged with 200 homes destroyed; 21 businesses in Parkersburg have experienced damage. The monetary loss is known, but the estimate is it's in the millions.
State and federal officials toured the devasatation in Parkersburg and New Hartford Monday morning, vowing to come to the aid of the hurting people of Butler County.
"There's so much hurt here, I don't know where to start," said a shaken Sen. Charles Grassley, whose home town of New Hartford was also severely hit by Sunday night's tornado.
"We'll make it through this, but there is so much hurt here," he added.
Gov. Chet Culver said that there were more than 400 homes affected by the tornado -- 220 of them destroyed along with 21 businesses in Parkersburg.
"We are here as much as anything to give our support," Culver said.
Culver said he has asked from the White House for federal aid to come to the community.
Also, the National Guard is bringing in additional troop support to help with cleanup and protection of the city.
"We are resilient as Iowans and we will get through this," a somber Culver said.
He thanked the volunteers, the Red Cross and Hy-Vee for stepping up and helping in the aftermath.
Dave Miller of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management said the devastation is "tremendous."
The tornado tore through Parkersburg about 5 p.m. A total of six people have been killed -- four in Parkersburg and two in New Hartford.The numbers stand the same: four dead in Parkersburg and two dead in New Hartford. There are about 70 people with various injuries. Family and funeral homes have identified three of them. The official release of their names will not come until Tuesday at the earliest, officials said.
Relatives identified one of those killed in New Hartford as Norman Beuthine, 48, of 325th St., New Hartford.
Dike Funeral Chapel identified two of the others as Leasa Bleeker, 71, of New Hartford, and Shirley Luhring, 71, of Parkersburg.
Beuthine's girlfriend and companion of three years, Renee Kincaid, was taken to Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls and was in critical condition, Beuthine's family said.
School year ends
The school year has ended for the students of Aplington-Parkersburg High School.
The building is not structurally sound after being severely damaged by Sunday's tornado, said Principal Dave Meyer.
"We may be rebuilding the whole thing," he said.
Officials were attempting to save the sports memorabilia. To add to the problem, the football field behind the school also was damaged. The bleachers and scoreboard sustained heavy damage.
Meyer said other school districts have stepped up to help with summer programming already set up. He said officials will have to determine what do with the high school students next fall. There is a middle school and two elementary schools in the district, which encompasses Aplington and Parkersburg, so they will need to look to see if they can use those facilities until a new school or repairs can be made.
The cleanup in Dunkerton
Mike Krall of rural Dunkerton dodged the bullet after his farmstead took a direct hit from the tornado.
"I'd be dead if I stayed here," Krall said. Sunday night he was at the races in Vinton when he was told the tornado struck his house.
One out of the five buildings on his farmstead survived. His house collapsed into his basement. Thick lumber beams were splintered into toothpicks.
The storm was strong enough to throw the chassis of his 1970 Chevy Chevelle more than 500 yards into a farm field.
"Here's the door handle," he said, pulling a silver object out from under a bush near his house.
The chassis was ripped from the car's body.
Krall said he plans to rebuild his house where he has lived for 15 years, but in the meantime, he said all he can do is cry.
More than a dozen people showed up at his house to help him recover. At the time, they were trying to move the walls so he could recover some belongings.
Down the road, Jim Dos was confronting an equally grim prognosis. "We just aren't going to have anything left when it is all said and done," Dos said.
Dos and his father, Rodger, raise chickens and hogs on their farm on Mount Vernon Road. The tornado damaged most of his buildings and parts of two houses on the property.
In one of his barns, there were 50,000 baby chicks. There are another 120,000 in a second barn. More than 100,000 were probably alive, but Dos said he will probably have to write it all off because of the amount of damages to the buildings.
The farm is recovering from a fire several years ago and Dos said he expects the damage from the storm to add to his years of recovery.
Returning to homes
In Parkersburg, residents were returning to their homes to sift through the debris and salvage what they could. There is clothing strewn in trees and cars upside down everywhere.
"I guess I don't know where to start," said Beth Bruns, a Parkersburg resident whose new home was destroyed while the family was out of town.
Some longtime residents felt disoriented as they returned in what should have been familiar neighborhoods. Tears turned to laughter as survivors tried to find some solace in the devastation.
Others, including Clarence Karsjens, said it was too soon to look ahead. He didn't know where he would live. "Haven't even thought about it," he said.
Parkersburg is still without water and electricity, so residents are only allowed inside the city limits until 8 p.m. today when the town will be evacuated again.
I've talked to quite a few people whose homes have been leveled and are gone. They are just thankful they are alive and not injured," said Parkersburg Mayor Robert Haylock.
The American Red Cross Hawkeye Chapter and Grant Wood Area Chapter are mobilizing disaster relief workers to meet the emergency needs of those in the areas affected.
In the Parkersburg and New Hartford areas, Red Cross volunteers are continuing with disaster assessment and are providing feeding to emegency workers and residents. The shelter at the Aplington School remains open.
In Dunkerton, the shelter at the school is now closed, as well as the shelter in Hazleton.
There still is not electricity to the city, but MidAmerica was to send 80 crews to the city Monday and Tuesday to get power back to the city. Power should be stories to everyone north of Third Avenue by Thursday.
Power was restored Monday to New Hartford.
Jim Saunders with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said efforts to volunteer for cleanup are appreciated but not needed.
However, cash donations will be accepted by the Red Cross at (319) 234-6832 of the Salvation Army at 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
Saunders said the damage estimate is as follows: 400 homes damaged with 200 homes destroyed; 21 businesses in Parkersburg have experienced damage. The monetary loss is known, but the estimate is it's in the millions.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
