All I saw was the sky get black as night and tree branches flying past my office window. Since my desk is next to my windows, I promptly got up and headed to the interior hallway, didn't feel like picking glass out my hide if a branch hit the windows. All over with in less than 3 minutes. I thought it was stright line winds or a top dropping out of a thunderstorm. Turned on the 10 pm news when I go home after night class to find out it was a tornando that was outside my office.
I've been through a few tornados, part of living in Iowa, but this one has to be the quietest one yet, didn't hear the tell tell roar of the wind and my windows are not exactly energy efficent.
Charby
NWS: Tornado Touches Down In Ames
Seven People Injured In Storm
POSTED: 2:13 pm CDT September 8, 2005
UPDATED: 7:20 am CDT September 9, 2005
DES MOINES -- A strong thunderstorm system swept across Iowa Thursday afternoon bringing strong winds and heavy rain. KCCI Chief Meteorologist John McLaughlin said severe thunderstorms produced winds of 60 to 70 mph.
Ames had flash flooding and downed trees and light poles, and the National Weather Service reported that a tornado touched down near the Agronomy Building on the Iowa State University campus. Heavy rain and winds left damage in their wake.
Once the storm blew through, the sun was shining and university crews were able to get to work cleaning up the mess. Uprooted trees and fallen branches created a hazards on campus. Seven people had minor injuries. One person was injured enough to be taken to Mary Greeley Hospital.
While the storm created a lot of damage, it did give a class of future meteorologists a chance to track a storm and witness it firsthand as blew past their classroom.
I look across the courtyard and I could see kind of a swirl of debris coming off the roof across Agronomy, said student Chris Conoan.
The strong winds ripped down tents and knocked over several portable toilets at Jack Trice Stadium, which were already set up for Saturday's big Iowa-Iowa State football game.
While the tornado was confirmed in Ames, there were no watches or warnings issued. That left a lot of students on campus and people in Ames scrambling for cover.
The storm rolled through the Des Moines area just before 1 p.m. It dumped rain very quickly on the city.
Water flooded the streets and parking lots and shot out of storm sewers. In Ankeny, 75 mph winds knocked down trees and branches.
Investigators said the heavy winds caused an accident on Interstate 80. A pickup truck with a fifth wheel was traveling on I-80 near Altoona when a strong gust knocked off the fifth wheel, which slammed into a median wall. A semitrailer behind the pickup also was blasted by the gust. It, too, crashed into the median. There were no serious injuries in the crash.
Earlier, the storm damaged trees in Calhoun County near Rockwell City. There are also reports of significant damage in the northwest Iowa town of Everly.
Mid American Energy said power was knocked out to about 8,700 customers at one time. At 5 p.m. Thursday, about 3,300 people were still without power.
