A BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY IN MAQUOKETA...SUNNY AND IN THE 70'S.
THE CLEAN-UP WORK STARTED THIS MORNING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF MAQUOKETA
FOLLOWING LAST NIGHT'S SMALL TORNADO.
IT PASSED OVER PERSHING ROAD AROUND 7:40 P.M. IT CAME IN FROM THE WEST AND SWOOPED DOWN ON THE HILLSIDE MOBILE HOME COURT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE UNITED LIVESTOCK LARGE SALE BARN.
AT HILLSIDE, EVERY ONE OF THE DOZEN OR SO TRAILERS HAD SOME DAMAGE DONE TO THEM. ALSO TREES FELL ON A COUPLE CARS.
TWO MOBILE HOMES ARE UN-FIXABLE AND THE OTHERS WILL NEED REPAIRS TO ROOF, SIDING OR WINDOWS, OR ALL THREE.
A MOTHER AND HER 8 YEAR OLD SON WAS THE ONLY PERSON TO GET INJURED FROM FLYING DEBRIS IN THE HOME AFTER A HOLE HAD BEEN RIPPED IN THE SIDE OF THE HOME. THAT BOY HAD CUTS TO HIS FEET THAT REQUIRED STITCHES. HE WAS TREATED AND RELEASED AT THE
LOCAL HOSPITAL. THERE WERE TREES AND BRANCHES ALL OVER THE MOBILE HOME PARK, OWNED BY KEN MOORE. GIL BURG TREE REMOVAL SERVICE WAS HIRED BY MOORE AND STARTED WITH A CREW THIS MORNING. ELECTRICITY WAS SHUT OFF LAST NIGHT AND RESIDENTS COULD NOT SLEEP IN THEIR HOME
UNTIL THE PARK COULD BE CHECKED-OVER THIS MORNING. SOME RESIDENTS
WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE BACK INTO THEIR HOME TODAY AND OTHERS WILL HAVE
TO WAIT UNTIL REPAIRS ARE MADE.
WHAT HAPPED AT THE SMALL MOBILE HOME COURT ALSO HAPPENED TWO BLOCKS EAST AT THE LARGER TIMBER CITY COURT. IT TOO HAD DOWNED TREES AND BRANCHES. THAT COURT HOLDS ABOUT 50 HOMES. IT WAS ALSO SHUT DOWN FOR THE NIGHT.
ALSO HIT HARD BY THE STORM WAS THE DUB ROMER HOME AND BUILDINGS ON PERSHING ROAD JUST EAST OF THE TWO MOBILE HOME PARKS. HIS HOME ON THE HILL HAD A PORCH WITH LARGE COLUMNS AND IT WAS TORN FROM THE
MAIN STRUCTURE. THE ROOF ABOVE THE PORCH WAS TORN AWAY FROM THE
HOME. AND A COUPLE SHEDS NEARBY WERE LEVELED OR EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED.
ROMER WAS HOME AND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE AREA, HE HEARD THE LOUD NOISE LIKE A LOCOMOTIVE WHEN THE TORNADO PASSED.
THE AMERCAN RED CROSS CAME IN TO SET UP HOUSING FOR THOSE IN THE MOBILE HOMES.
JUST EAST OF ROMER'S HOME ON PERSHING, INCLUDING IN FRONT OF CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, LOTS OF TREES OR BRANCHES DOWN.
THE AREA ON PERSHING THAT WAS HIT WAS BOUT 4 OR 5 BLOCKS LONG. AFTER THAT DISTANCE,THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED AND HEADED EASTERLY.
THE SIREN NEVER SOUNDED AHEAD OF THE TORNADO. POLICE CHIEF BRAD KORANDA SAID THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUED NO ADVANCE WARNING ON THE TORNADO SO NO SIREN WAS SOUNDED. THEN AS SOON AS IT WAS REPORTED AND HAD HIT, THE SIRENS WERE ACTIVATED. ACTIVATED ALSO
IN PRESTON AND DELMAR AND OTHER CLINTON AND JACKSON COUNTY TOWNS
THAT THEN RECEIVED THE TORNADO WARNING FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.. NO DAMAGE ESTIMATE ON THE STORM WAS AVAILABLE THIS MORNING
BUT WILL RUN INTO MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.
WAS IT A REAL TORNADO?? EXPERTS WERE IN TOWN THIS MORNING TO TRY AND
MAKE THAT DETERMINATION. KMAQ NEWS HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND OUT WHAT THEIR DECISION WAS BUT MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE OBSERVED STORMS BEFORE WERE SURE THIS MORNING THAT LAST NIGHTS STORM WAS INDEED A SMALL
TORNADO.
TV STATIONS WERE IN TOWN THIS MORNING TO DO INTERVIEWS AND BUMPER TO BUMPER CARS DROVE PERSHING ROAD TO LOOK AT THE DAMAGE.
MAQUOKETA WAS A BUSY PLACE THIS MORNING AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE
THAT ATTENDED THE FIREMEN'S BREAKFAST THIS MORNING HAD MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. FIREMEN WERE BUSY UNTIL LATE LAST NIGHT AT THE MOBILE HOME
PARKS AND THEN MANY WERE AT THE STATION BEFORE SUNRISE THIS MORNING
PREPARING FOR MAQUOKETA'S LARGEST COMMUNITY BREAKFAST OF THE
YEAR.
IN CONCLUSION, IT WAS A BAD TORNADO OR STORM LAST NIGHT! COULD
HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE.....AND THANKFULLY, NO ONE WAS KILLED AND
THERE WAS JUST ONE MINOR INJURY.
I TOOK SOME PHOTOS LATE THIS MORNING....BELOW. CLICK-ON THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.....CLICK TWICE TO ENLARGE THEM EVEN MORE.
DENNIS VOY
