Norwalk, Iowa Tornado Damage March 5, 2022
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The National Weather Service is pouring over information to determine the strength of Saturday's tornadoes that killed six people in Madison County and one person in Lucas County.
"We've been looking at some of the photos and videos from around the Winterset area, and it does suggest at least EF3 tornado damage occurred late Saturday afternoon," says National Weather Service Meteorologist Roger Vahalek.
He says they'll have damage assessment teams around Winterset and in Lucas County where a person was killed in Chariton.
"We have a number of teams going out, one going from Winterset to Norwalk, and another one that will be in Chariton into the afternoon hours," Vahalek says.
He says Weather Service will be trying to determine how many tornadoes touched down from Saturday's storm system, and how long they were on the ground in the various locations across the area.
"There may be a number of tornadoes associated with that. It'll be part of the survey crews to go out and try to locate and determine where those occurred in terms of the actual length for each individual tornado," Vahalek says.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Madison County.
Her office says the proclamation allows state resources to be utilized in Madison County to assist with response and recovery efforts. Additional counties may be added to the proclamation.
There is also extensive storm damage in Norwalk. Police say homes and businesses have roof damage and a barn was leveled outside of town.
Police say there is also significant damage near Norwalk High School.
Norwalk and Winterset photos by permission of Iowa Storm Chasing Network https://m.facebook.com/IowaStormChasing/
Winterset, Iowa Tornado Damage March 5, 2022Photo: Iowa Storm Chasing Network