Originally Posted by
Mona G
My brother lives in Cedar Rapids and they lost their front porch due to a big tree falling on it and part of that tree is in their bedroom.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but not a fun way to start the week.
My other brother lives in Waterloo, I don't think the winds were bad there.
My son is also in Cedar Rapids. I was there today. What a mess!!! No power means no stop lights, no gas, no stores, no restaurants, no one going to work, no nothing. They used a snow plow to clears tress out of the streets last night. Chain saws are heard everywhere. Lots of semi's are laying on their sides, roofs blown off, siding ripped off buildings, power poles snapped in half. The radio said the winds were equal to a Cat 2 hurricane.....in Iowa!!!!! I have lived here all my life and have never seen anything like this! Phone lines are down and we saw a cell phone tower crumpled up like a wad of paper. It is hard to see. I brought home their food in the freezer to store here until they get power. I took bottles of water and batteries for flashlights. Reports say 50 people went to the emergency room, mostly fractures and one head injury. This morning, there was one death when a tree fell on him. Gas stations are closed so people went to neighboring towns for gas. The lines were blocks long. They would fill up their car and then fill 4 to 6 gas cans. I heard that my town is out of gas. We are 40 miles away.
No, Waterloo didn't get the damage that Cedar Rapids did. Waterloo was on the very edge of the storm.
I hope I never see anything like this again.