EASTER EGG HUNTS Easter egg hunts will be held in several area towns this weekend. For a schedule of area Easter egg hunts, see page 2A. >>
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THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
‘We were blessed’ No fatalities, few injuries as EF2 tornado strikes without warning ■
By LARRY PETERSON CNA senior feature writer lpeterson@crestonnews.com
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a twopart series on the five-year anniversary of the tornado that struck Creston on April 14, 2012.) As Union County Emergency Management director, Jo Anne Duckworth was keeping her eye on the weather on a Saturday afternoon in April 2012 that would eventually drop a 130-miles per hour twisting surprise on the west edge of Creston.
Cromwell and tracked northeast through the northwest edge of Creston. Greater Regional Medical Center and Southwestern Community College received major damage, and the Green Hills Area Education Agency building 1405 N. Lincoln Street was virtually destroyed. The tornado continued tracking northeast and damaged the Creston Community Schools bus barn and some of the athletic facilities, including sending the high school band trailer on a journey of nearly 2 miles toward Cherry Street Road after blasting through the football scoreboard at Panther Field.
Then vs. now 2012-2017
CNA file photo
Pictured is the scene at the intersection of Townline Street and Country Club Drive after the 2012 tornado. A car from Greater Regional Medical Center’s fleet was blown from the parking lot onto the recreation trail in front of destroyed condominiums.
CNA photo by LARRY PETERSON
Pictured is the current view along the recreation trail on Townline Street looking east from Country Club Drive, including rebuilt condominiums after the 2012 tornado.
CNA file photo
Monte Neitzel, chief executive officer of Greater Regional Medical Center, left, takes Gov. Terry Branstad on a tour of the damaged medical facility one day after it was damaged in the April 2012 tornado.
Three injuries Three people were transported to Des Moines for serious injuries, but there were no fatalities. Connie Brentnall and her son Terry were thrown from her residence east of the hospital on Clayton Road. Mrs. Brentnall was found injured laying on Townline Street in the aftermath of the tornado. While multiple Southwestern dormitories were heavily damaged, there was only one student injured as she rushed to safety in the interior portion of one of the buildings. “We were blessed in so many ways,” Duckworth said. It was a Saturday night, so there were no employees in many of the damaged buildings at SWCC and the AEA. The dorms were lightly inhabited for the weekend with no athletic teams playing games at home. Southern Prairie YMCA, which sustained roof damage with a large swimming pool dehumidifier ripped from the structure’s roof, had closed one hour earlier. While Creston schools had hosted several teams in the Panther Relays just 24 hours earlier, the campus was quiet on Saturday evening. Track coach Pat Schlapia was inside the middle school on the second floor making copies of track meet results when the TORNADO | 2A
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Volume 133 No. 224
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TOMORROW
“The (National) Weather Service kind of gave a heads up on a storm system coming in, which had the potential to be violent,” said Duckworth, who was home with her family on High and Dry Road south of Creston. At about 4 p.m. she enacted the Code Red system that sends out severe weather notification via telephone service throughout Union County. Soon, it began raining hard and the wind picked up. That prompted Duckworth to call the Union County Law Enforcement Center dispatcher on duty to inform the Creston Fire Department of the possible need to send out storm spotters. At the time, she did not realize the small town of Thurman in Fremont County had already been hit by a tornado. She decided at about 6:40 p.m. it would be a good idea to send out another Code Red message to ensure county residents were aware of the threatening weather conditions. “I remember we were having tacos and I kept my eye on the weather,” Duckworth said. “All of a sudden I looked at the radar and I thought, ‘Ah shoot.’ I just knew from looking it was trouble. I called in to sound the sirens. It was too late.” The National Weather Service confirmed the next day that a strong EF2 tornado hit Creston at approximately 7:05 p.m. Saturday with peak winds estimated at 130 miles per hour. The average path width was 600 yards. The tornado began about 1 1/2 miles east of
Greater Regional Medical Center photo
Cars were overturned in front of the main entrance at Greater Regional Medical Center after the 2012 tornado.
CNA photo by LARRY PETERSON
Pictured is the current view of the Greater Regional Medical Center main entrance.