Storm blows through Southeast Iowa Friday morning

WASHINGTON — Washington County residents awoke to storm sirens and phone alerts Friday morning around 6:30 a.m., including a tornado warning from the National Weather Service.

The warning included Louisa, Johnson and Iowa counties as well, advising ping pong ball sized hail and “radar indicated rotation” were possible in a line from Parnell to “near the Washington County Fairgrounds.”

Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen said the county had confirmed a brief tornado, roughly northwest of Wellman, which damaged mostly outbuildings and barns, by 8:30 a.m. She also said reports came in about building and tree damage south of Riverside, but said it wasn’t clear whether the cause was straight line winds, another tornado, or other storm trouble.

Reisen spent the morning there, in the northeast area of the county, where she said trees had fallen on some roads, and at least one house lost a window when patio furniture blew through it.

“Everybody that was impacted has reported in as being OK,” Reisen said. “Fire departments have been out doing spot-checks anywhere they find damage to make sure people are OK. So as of this moment, I don’t know of any injuries or anything awful, but we definitely have a bit of damage.”

Riverside area residents did report seeing a tornado, which they described to Reisen as “jumping” through nearby fields, only touching the ground occasionally. She said the National Weather Service planned to dispatch staff to the area to verify storm specifics over the following 24 hours.

David Phillips was driving on Highway 1 at 7 a.m., where he said he saw a tornado roughly two miles north of the Kalona Creamery, which is near the Washington-Johnson County line.

Across the street from the creamery, a building on a chicken farm caught fire Friday morning as well, but Marissa Reisen said that incident was unrelated to the storm, with a dispatch call coming in before severe weather arrived.

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said there was “minimal damage” in the city itself.

In Washington, public schools and St. James announced two-hour late starts for the day. Both said they would have no early-out, due to the change of schedule.

Further north, Mid-Prairie made the same call, citing a brief loss of power in some buildings due to the weather. Iowa City Schools also pushed back the start of class by two hours, while Highland’s middle school and high school had an only one-hour delay, according to social media posts and emails from those districts.

In central Washington County, damage reports consisted mostly of downed trees and snapped outdoor signs.

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Further south, Friday morning storm triggered warnings, but was little more than a mild cause for concern.

A member of the Crawfordsville Community Club said no damage was reported to Fire Chief Roy Felts, and that area weather spotters had seen only a few minutes of strong wind and pea-sized hail. An SEIU correspondent in New London said she wasn’t aware of any major damage there either, as of 9:30 a.m. Friday. A Brighton city employee said she only saw “a few tree limbs down.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds added 10 counties to a standing emergency proclamation Friday afternoon. Keokuk, Johnson and Washington were among them. The move makes local residents eligible for certain grants and state assistance to help with property repairs.

Experts said Friday morning’s storms were hardly the last ones expected for the season, or even the day: the National Weather Service station in the quad cities advised that more “strong to severe” thunderstorms were projected in Southeast Iowa Friday afternoon.

Reisen advised county residents to keep their ears open for sirens, and their plans flexible as the season continues.

“It has been a rough spring in Iowa, and we’ve lucked out in … Washington County,” she said. “But it’s not over yet. So, stay alert, stay aware, and be ready to get to your safe place.”

This story is developing, and will be updated later as The Southeast Iowa Union gathers and verifies more information.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com