Morning storms bring a tornado, damage to central Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa - Central Iowa woke up to severe weather Tuesday morning, which included heavy rain, high winds and one confirmed tornado that touched down in Warren County around 6 a.m.

"We're comfortable at this time to say there was a tornado around Lacona. We don't have the exact path or how far northwest or southeast of Lacona it went, but it was in that area this morning we had a tornado," said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Ansorge. He also says there may have been another tornado in Madison County to the northwest of Lacona, but that is not confirmed.

Wind damage was reported in Tracy, Iowa in Marion County.

Heavy rainfall caused some street flooding in the Des Moines Metro area during the morning commute as drivers had to endure slowdowns during the storm.

At the peak of the storm, more than 20,000 MidAmerican Energy customers had no power as a result of downed trees and power lines.

"Based on the forecast last night we were concerned, so we called in our crews early this morning so they were actually waiting for the storm to come into the Des Moines area so they could respond immediately," said MidAmerican Energy spokesman Geoff Greenwood.

By mid-morning there were only sporadic power outages left in the Des Moines Metro area.

Wednesday morning could bring another round of early morning thunderstorms in the Des Moines area.

"There's a chance for strong storms tomorrow morning as well. It looks like more southern Iowa will be the focus for tomorrow morning, maybe even south of the Des Moines Metro," said Ansorge.

Numerous lightning strikes were reported around the Des Moines area and some fires were called in to the Des Moines Fire Department.

Nobody was hurt in the reported fires.


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