The tornado-strength winds and lightning that swept through Iowa in the early hours today tossed boats in Okoboji, shut off power for tens of thousands, ate the canopy on an Ankeny Casey’s General Store and snapped large trees.
But authorities said no major injuries were reported. The storm that destroyed six rental and demo boats at Mau Marine in West Okoboji left untouched a brand new $350,000 pier that replaced one crushed by snow earlier in the year.
“I think there’s been a tremendous amount of boat and hoist damage all over the lake area,” said Julie Andres, co-owner of Mau Marine. “Everyone is kind of cleaning up and chain-sawing trees.”
In Windsor Heights, the storm split a foot-thick limb off Melvin Givant’s sugar maple and it landed on the pickup he uses for the family autoparts business. But it ignored the two-year-old roof and year-old siding on the house.
National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Cogil said the storm that hit central Iowa at roughly 3 a.m. Sunday swept through much of the state on a roughly north-south path that tended to follow the Des Moines River.
The storm produced 70 to 80 mph wind in northwest Iowa, with 65 to 80 mph gusts as the storm passed through central Iowa. As the storm moved to southeastern Iowa, gusts were 60 to 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Gusts of 65 to 85 mph can be like a weak tornado, and anything over 75 mph significantly increases damage, said Rod Donavon with the weather service.
MidAmerican Energy, which started today with reports of more than 38,000 customers without power, had the number whittled to roughly 3,900 by 9:30 p.m. — all but a few in the Des Moines area. The company said all customers should be back on line by noon Monday. In Dickinson County, almost 800 Alliant Energy customers were without power as of 9:30 p.m.
Photos: Early morning storms
A.J. Mumm, Polk County’s emergency management director, said emergency workers were kept busy throughout this morning.
“It’s not uncommon to have a storm like this at least once a year,” Mumm said. “The impacts we’re seeing are typical of an upper-end severity of thunderstorm.”