Multiple tornadoes caused extensive damage in Iowa on Tuesday during severe weather that storm trackers across the region captured live on video.
Reports of tornadoes and damage started coming in Tuesday afternoon while a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Tornado Watch was underway for parts of the Midwest.
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At least four tornadoes were seen in western and central parts of the Hawkeye State, including by FOX Weather storm chasers.
Storm chaser Brandon Copic's cameras started recording a massive tornado that developed in western Iowa.
"It's definitely a multi-vortex tornado in progress," Copic told FOX Weather Meteorologist Ian Oliver.
Storm trackers get two views of Iowa tornado
Exclusive FOX Storm Trackers Vince Waelti and Brandon Copic both have live views of a tornado tearing through Iowa.
Meanwhile, in Corning, Iowa, Vince Waelti captured another video of a twister touching down on the ground.
In southwest Iowa, a tornado outside of Prescott ripped down a wind turbine, causing a fire.
The video at the top of this story shows dark smoke billowing from the broken wind turbine after the twister moved through the area.
A Carl, Iowa wind turbine destroyed by a tornado.
(FOX Weather)
FOX Weather producers on the ground near Carl, Iowa, documented the turbine still burning and silo nearby that was damaged in the storm.
Tornado spotted in western Iowa on Tuesday
A tornado was spotted outside of Red Oak, Iowa on Tuesday.
National Weather Service storm survey teams will have to assess the damage in Iowa to determine the strength of the tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
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.
Drone 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 state.
Tornado spotted in western Iowa on Tuesday
A tornado was spotted outside of Red Oak, Iowa on Tuesday.
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.
The 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.
Extensive tornado damage spotted in Greenfield, Iowa after tornado strike
Storm Tracker Brandon Copic is one of the first on the scene to witness the tornado damage in Greenfield, Iowa.
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.
Outside of the severe storms, a Dust Storm Warning was issued for Central Illinois due to reduced visibility around Champaign and Decatur.
Satellite animation of supercells rolling through Iowa on 5/21/2024
"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 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 the damage over the next couple of days to determine the strength of the twister.
'I heard the train': Iowa resident describes encounter with violent tornado
A Greenfield resident says her home was damaged by the tornado but her neighbors' homes were destroyed during a deadly tornado.
The town of Greenfield in southwest Iowa took a direct hit from a huge tornado as severe weather ripped across the Midwest on Tuesday.
"It's not good. I can say that much," FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic said. He was one of the first on the scene after the town was destroyed.
"I can't speak on casualties or anything like that. I'm not emergency management or anything of that sort," Copic said while being interviewed by FOX Weather Meteorologist Steve Bender. "But most of this town is gone, Steve. There's no other way to put it. Most of this town's gone."
'It's bad': FOX Weather storm tracker talks about tornado damage in Greenfield, Iowa
FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic was in Greenfield, Iowa, after a tornado went through the middle of the town.
Copic and his storm-tracking teammate rushed to Greenfield to offer first aid.
"It's a very bad situation. Quite a few people were 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.
Heart of town hit
Bender asked Copic if the tornado spared 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 through. Copic said the NWS gave the town ample warning, giving them time to take cover.
Extensive tornado damage spotted in Greenfield, Iowa after tornado strike
Storm Tracker Brandon Copic is one of the first on the scene to witness the tornado damage in Greenfield, Iowa.
"It came up pretty quick, (NWS) 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.
Debris ball dwarfed town
FOX Weather measured the debris signature on radar, it dwarfed the town.
"I think the big concern that we've seen from Greenfield and those other debris balls is how large they are. They're miles in diameter scattering it (debris) ahead," Bender said. "So this speaks to the intensity and the volatility of this."
"That was really hard to see on Doppler radar when we measured the debris signature, which was approaching 2-and-a-half, 3 miles wide," FOX News Meteorologist Adam Klotz said. "And then you saw Greenfield, the whole community of 2,000 people live there, is only 2 miles wide. So, you knew that this just screamed into the community at about 50 mph."
Drone 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.