Sioux City Journal, IA
08-03-06
Storms rip Siouxland
By Dolly A. Butz Journal staff writer
Heavy rains, hail and gusting winds ripped through Northwest Iowa Tuesday
night, flattening cornfields and damaging property in several counties.
Two fields farmed by Ryan Schoenfelder, located four miles south of Westfield,
tell the story of those who got hit hard and those who were spared. On the left
side of a gravel road stalks of corn are bent and uprooted, on the other side they
stand tall and straight.
"It just uprooted the corn," Schoenfelder said. "It didn't snap it off. It just tore the
root out of the ground on one side. Everybody we've talked to said they haven't
seen winds like this in the summer."
Iowa State University Extension crop specialist Joel DeJong said fields in
Plymouth and Cherokee counties were blown flat. He said the damage will make
it harder for farmers to harvest at the end of the year and probably cost them
some yield.
"We hope that in a couple of days it kind of grows upward again, but it did
probably cause some root damage in those areas where it went flat," DeJong
said.
Schoenfelder, who farms 60 acres of land, said he estimates an 80 percent crop
loss.
"It'll straighten up a little bit," he said. "For the most part you're not going to be
able to get most of this combined."
One-inch hail, 60-70 mph winds and up to 7 inches of rainfall was reported in
some areas, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
Clay and Dickinson counties in Iowa received the heaviest rainfall amounts.
"Certainly there was a large area of 2 to 4 inches over Northwest Iowa and
Southwest Minnesota," National Weather Service meteorologist Shawn Liebl
said.
Liebl said Doppler radar estimates reported that eastern portions of Dickinson
County received around 6 to 7 inches of rain. He said several counties also
received hail, including Lyon County where 1-inch hail was reported to the west
and southwest of Rock Rapids.
Estimated wind gusts of 75 mph were reported near Elk Point, S.D. by law
enforcement officers. The Union County Sheriff's Office reported scattered tree
branches and flattened cornfields, but said there had been no reports of structure
damage.
In Plymouth County, near Brunsville, Iowa, a hog confinement at 24746 170th St.
was a complete loss. The Plymouth County Sheriff's Department also said
several old barns sustained wind damage.
More than 60 birch, ash and mulberry trees were downed and a barn was
toppled at the home of Lyle and Barb Ostermeyer, three miles east of Akron,
Iowa.
Barb Ostermeyer said they were watching TV at 7:35 p.m. when the storm
struck. She said they were going to remove some plants from the front porch, but
said they didn't make it in time. Instead they headed to the basement.
"We weren't down there 10 minutes and we came up to this destruction," she
said.
The Ostermeyers saw trees split and branches strewn around their property. A
red barn, that was destroyed by a tornado in 1915 and was rebuilt, lay in ruins.
Splintered boards and debris now surround the structure. Only one of the barn's
walls, which is being supported by a pickup truck, is still standing.
Lyle Ostermeyer said he started cleaning up his property at 8 a.m. with the help
of friends and family. By Wednesday afternoon, he said they had removed up to
14 wagon loads of debris.
"We lost 60 (trees)," he said. "Most we're taking out were put in in 1910 as
seedlings."
Ostermeyer said neighboring properties also sustained severe damage.
"They've had as bad, but I don't know if they've lost as many trees as us," he
said.
Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 80s and may hit 90 by the weekend.
There is a chance of thunderstorms this weekend into next week.