Drone video reveals devastation in Greenfield after monster Iowa tornado: 'Most of this town is gone'
GREENFIELD, Iowa – The town of Greenfield in southwestern Iowa was directly hit by a huge tornado on Tuesday as severe weather ripped across the Midwest.
"It's not good. I can say that much," said FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic, one of the first on the scene after the town was destroyed. "Most of this town is gone. There's no other way to put it."
At least two fatalities and several injuries in the Greenfield area have been reported after nearly two dozen tornadoes across the state.
The National Weather Service office in Des Moines will survey damage over the next couple of days to determine the strength of the twisters. Already, the NWS has said the Greenfield twister was at least an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, but surveys are ongoing.
POWERFUL IMAGES CAPTURE DEADLY DEVASTATION FROM TORNADO’S AFTERMATH IN GREENFIELD, IOWA
Copic and his storm-tracking teammate rushed to Greenfield to offer first aid.
"It's a very bad situation. Quite a few people stuck in their homes, injuries. I think it caught some people off guard, it seemed like," FOX Weather Storm Tracker Corey Gerken said. "But that's some of the more significant damage that we've seen lately. It's a very bad scenario there right now."
On the way to Greenfield, storm trackers spotted burning wind turbines after a tornado moved through. Homes were torn into small chunks. Only the bare tree trunks still rise higher than the people looking at the damage. Everything else was leveled and spread miles across the landscape. The powerful winds tossed cars.
WATCH: WIND TURBINE BURNS IN IOWA AFTER BEING DESTROYED BY TORNADO
Copic said the tornado did not spare any part of the town.
"(It went) mostly straight through the center of town," Copic said. "But the destruction, it's just it's bad. It's bad, but it's about the people here. The people need help."
During the interview, survivors started emerging from tornado shelters. They all looked shell-shocked and just wandered from pile to pile. Looking at the homes, it is hard to imagine how anyone made it. Copic said the National Weather Service gave the town ample warning, giving them time to take cover.
TORNADOES CAUSE DESTRUCTION IN IOWA AS DEADLY STORMS RACE ACROSS STATE
"It came up pretty quick, (National Weather Service) claiming the storm's moving 50-55 miles an hour. So they're (tornadoes) coming in quickly. People had a decent warning," Copic said. "That's a lot of the things that we've talked to people about is that we had sufficient warning. And, thankfully, 99% of the people that we had talked to had a good reaction to that warning and took shelter.
First responders said several people were killed by the storm and many more injured, but it will take some time to determine the extent of the damage.
The NWS office in Des Moines will survey the damage over the next couple of days to determine the strength of the twister.
Original article source: Drone video reveals devastation in Greenfield after monster Iowa tornado: 'Most of this town is gone'
