Tornadoes strike Humboldt County

By KENT THOMPSON
Humboldt County was hit by numerous intense storms early Tuesday evening, April 12, three were confirmed tornadoes and others were wall clouds with rotation that did not touch down. Fortunately, no injuries were reported related to Tuesday night's intense storms.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received word from the National Weather Service following their storm assessment on Wednesday that there were two tornadoes that impacted Humboldt County early Tuesday evening.
One was located between Gilmore City and Humboldt with wind speeds around 115-125 miles per hour. It started near Palmer in Pocahontas County and had a path length of 7.4 miles. Initially the National Weather Service rated it as an EF-1 but after gathering more data, the Service upgraded it to an EF-2.
The second was southwest of Rutland it was 4.2 miles in length and had a rating of EF-1 with winds at 100-110 miles per hour. It started west of the Unique corner, just east of County County Road P-29, traveled in a curved pattern to Highway 3 and then traveled in a northeasterly diagonal pattern to 205th Street, southwest of Bradgate and south of the Des Moines River. The third tornado was reported at 6:41 p.m. east of Bradgate and was rated an EF2 with winds of around 120 miles per hour. It took the roof off a home at 1509 170th Street (County Road C-26). It ran on a diagonal for 4.1 miles in Avery Township, starting west of Delaware Avenue and running northeast to just north of 170th Street before going back into the clouds. It did cross the Des Moines River, disproving the old wive's tale of tornadoes not crossing rivers. Violent tornadoes have formed over lakes and rivers on several occasions in history.
Exactly five miles south of the rural Bradate tornado, the rural Gilmore City tornado struck one of the most distinctive Gothic-arch roofed barns in the county was struck. The barn belonging to Gary Nilles at 2196 Florida Avenue had the north wall sucked inside the haymow and several pieces of metal singling was torn off.
“I’m less than a mile to the north and didn’t have any damage,” Nilles said of his home farm.
“We had a tree and power line go down that took out the electric fence for the buffalo. I had a 1,500-gallon tank in a farm shed north of the barn and it blew it a quarter mile away in the middle of the field,” Nilles report.
There were many other reports of property damage from the strong winds or from hailstones which varied from pea size to 2-1/2 inches, according to reports from residents in the Gilmore City and Lu Verne areas.
Humboldt County Sheriff Dean Kruger said the first alert was sent at 5:26 p.m. of Humboldt County being in a tornado watch. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 5:47 p.m., with 60 miles an hour winds and quarter-inch hail.
A tornado warning was issued at 6 p.m. and the first funnel entering the county was reported at 6:13 p.m. Storm spotters reported winds in excess of 80 miles an hour. Another tornado warning was issued at 7:15 p.m. and the county remained under a tornado watch until midnight.
“We take our direction from the National Weather Service and our number one priority is the safety of citizens. We blew the sirens several times,” Kruger said. He said the county has been conducting emergency warning siren testing at noon on Saturdays for the past month. “The only one that is not working is one by Hy-Capacity.
“Detrick Electric was going to fix it but it was too windy that day, but we know about it and will get it repaired,” said Kruger.
The sheriff was pulling double-duty, also serving as the county’s emergency management coordinator. A job he has been doing on an interim basis since last year. The county is advertising for a new coordinator.
The Leo Reigelsberger acreage 3.75 miles southeast of Gilmore City on Elm Avenue was struck hard. A large Sukup grain bin was ripped off its mounting pad and thrown an eighth of a mile or more into the side of Reigelsberger’s house.
“When the bin hit the house I just thought the garage door got caved in. Our ears popped and it sounded like a freight train.
“We lost our cattle shed all of the fence around the cattle shed, an enclosed utility trailer that had some toys (snowmobiles) in it and the west end of the machine shed,” Reigelsberger said. He was waiting to hear from the insurance adjuster on Wednesday morning.
Midland Power Cooperative reported 874 customers in Humboldt County had power outages because of the storm, all had been restored by 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Corn Belt Power reported no member consumers without power. MidAmerican Energy crews were working on replacing poles and lines along Iowa Avenue south of Bode on Wednesday. At 5 p.m. the company reported only three customers in the county without power.
Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots reported Wednesday that 140th Street west of Iowa Avenue was closed and Iowa Avenue south of 140th Street was closed as utility crews worked on downed power lines and poles. A large tree on 190th Street east of K Road had blocked traffic and forced closure of that road. Also, one mile of County Road C-20 between States and Texas avenues two miles south of Lu Verne was closed. Loots reported on Thursday that C-20 and 190th Street were reopened. Iowa Avenue south of Bode and 140th Street west of Iowa Avenue were reopened on Friday morning, Loots reported.
Look for the full report and more photos in the April 21 Humboldt Independent, your trusted source for local news and sports.

Humboldt County deemed disaster
Wednesday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for seven counties in response to the April 12 severe weather. The governor's proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to, and recover from, the effects of this severe weather in Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Humboldt, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Winneshiek and Worth counties.
In addition, the proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program.
The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.
The Disaster Case Management Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor's proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.