Hunter
04/01/23
A strong weather system blew into southeastern Iowa late Friday afternoon, leaving thousands without power and causing widespread damage. Tornado warnings were issued throughout the area as the storm passed through at about 60 miles per hour.
Businesses along the Coralville strip east of Coral Ridge Avenue were hit, leaving at least one vehicle on its side, fallen trees, and downed power lines. Residences in the area of 23rd Street and just off Boston Way were also damaged. The City opened up an emergency shelter at the Coralville Rec Center on 9th Street for those impacted by the storm.
KCRG TV was providing live weather coverage when their Solon CityCam showed the roof of El Sol Restaurant on Main Street blow off. Residents in Hills also saw damage to their homes. Half of the city of Charlotte, in Clinton County, had to evacuate due to a propane leak.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office asked that people refrain from going to Coralville, Hills and Solon to look at the damage, to allow emergency crews to clear debris.
The city of Keota had major damage. A trained storm spotter who followed the massive tornado that touched down said every house he’d been to so far had been leveled with debris scattered for miles. Another tornado was spotted in Wapello County. Debris from that storm made it all the way to Swisher, roughly 80 miles away.
Iowa City and University of Iowa officials say the city and campus remained relatively unscathed.
Friday night, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds approved requests for activation of state assistance in Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Johnson, Mahaska and Washington counties.
As of early Saturday morning, Mid-American Energy reports about 1000 Johnson County customers without power, the majority of them in Coralville. Alliant Energy reports a few dozen outages, and Eastern Iowa REC’s website could not provide a figure as their outage map is down.