Authorities say multiple tornadoes ripped through central Iowa, killing seven people, including two children, and damaging houses, trees, and power lines in the state's worst tornado in more than a decade.
Four people were injured and six people were killed, according to Madison County emergency management authorities, after a tornado struck southwest of Des Moines in the hamlet of Winterset at 4:30 pm Saturday. Two toddlers under the age of five and four adults were among those deceased.
Melissa Bazley, 63; Rodney Clark, 64; Cecilia Lloyd, 72; Michael Bolger, 37; Kinlee Bolger, 5; and Owen Bolger, 2 were the six persons who died in Madison County, according to officials.
The storms are the deadliest in Iowa since a tornado killed nine people and damaged almost 300 homes in the northern Iowa community of Parkersburg in May 2008. A month later, a tornado struck the Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch in western Iowa, killing four boys.
Several homes were damaged and destroyed, roads were obstructed by downed wires, and tree limbs were torn by the powerful winds, according to officials. More than 10,000 people in the Des Moines region were affected by power outages at one time. On Sunday evening, some 800 customers were still without electricity.
The tornado that killed one person in Lucas County lasted more than 16 miles (25.75 kilometers), according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, and was rated an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with peak winds of 138 mph. The damage assessment for the Winterset tornado is not expected to be finished until Monday, but the National Weather Service tweeted on Saturday that preliminary photos of the damage suggested the tornado was at least an EF-3 tornado, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Two days after a series of tornadoes ripped through Iowa, lawmakers debated modifications to a bill that would change a crucial step in filing an insurance claim. House File 2299 restricts the assessment process by prohibiting appraisers from resolving disputes between insurance companies and policyholders over the source of damage. Appraisers could only evaluate the financial worth of a loss.
In late February, the House voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill, with no debate on the floor. However, as a series of storms slammed across Iowa on Saturday, a Senate panel gave the plan a thorough examination.
The bill, according to insurance firms, would be a beneficial move. A 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision, according to Iowa Insurance Institute lobbyist Brittany Lumley, expanded appraisers' power by allowing them to consider the cause of damage. She said that HF 2299 will restore appraisers to their previous function, according to Iowa Capital Dispatch.
When a tornado slammed across central Iowa over the weekend, a mother lost four family members, including her husband and two of their children.
Melissa Bazley, 63, her son-in-law Michael Bolger, 37, and two of his children, Kinlee Bolger, 5, and Owen Bolger, 2, died. When the tornado hit Madison County on Saturday, Kuri Bolger, Michael's wife, was injured in the storm but survived with her 8-year-old kid, Brysen, as well as her grandpa and uncle.
According to a GoFundMe account put up by Kuri's lifelong friend, Kayla Nutt, the family was in Winterset on Saturday to visit Bazley. The page had raised nearly $350,000 for Kuri as of Monday afternoon.
"Kuri is still in the hospital with severe injuries but is stable, and Brysen has been discharged from the hospital with minor injuries," Nutt stated on the donation page. "All funds donated will go straight to Kuri for medical costs, continuing expenses and provide proper celebrations of life for the family," Kayla Nutt stated, as per People via MSN.
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