Tornado Hits Boy Scout Ranch, Four Dead, Many Injuries

[CelineAndRene]

Four people are dead, three are in critical condition, and 35 more are injured after a tornado touched down near Blencoe and Little Sioux, Iowa.

 

Emergency responders from throughout the area have been dispatched to the Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch where 100 to 150 boys were there for leadership training tonight.

 

Mercy Medical Center's "Air Care One" has been in the air all night, responders at the Mercy landing pad told our news crew there that the two victims they initially brought in were still alive.

 

"I haven't received any clear report from the trauma center as yet. I know the young people are in very good hands in our trauma center. They're being tended to right now, the nature of their injuries, I can't comment on at this time," said Mike Krysl, from Mercy Medical.

 

Additional helicopters are being called to the scene to get victims out, because the road to the ranch is blocked by fallen trees.

 

The ranch is located in rural Little Sioux, Iowa, about 45 miles of south of Sioux City, just off I-29. Parents who had children at the camp are being asked to call the Little Sioux Community Center or call 402-431-9272 for more information.

 

Governor Chet Culver has declared Monona County a disaster area. The Governor added that more information will follow as emergency responders assess the situation. There were over 21 possible tornado touchdowns in the Siouxland area.

 

Source: kmeg.com

 

 

 

 

 

OMG.. this is so scary.. this is near my hometown

 

My mom is a nurse @ Mercy, and her friends Son was 1 of the 3 that was seriously injured. So sad

Edited June 12, 2008 at 05:38 AM by CelineDionFREEEK

[CelineAndRene]

That was just one of them tonight. Another hit here in Blencoe:

 

 

BLENCOE, Iowa — A tornado tore through a Boy Scout camp in the remote hills of western Iowa on Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring 40, and setting off a frantic search to reach others in the piles of debris and downed trees.

 

Most of the injured had been on a hike when the tornado struck, authorities said, leaving them without protection from the deadly winds.

 

A search and rescue team deployed after the 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) twister had to cut their way through branches during a lightning storm to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp.

 

"All of the buildings are gone; most of the tents are gone; most of the trees are destroyed," Lloyd Roitstein, president of the Boy Scouts of Mid-America Council, told CNN. "You've got 1,800 acres of property that are destroyed right now."

 

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said three people were unaccounted for, but a spokesman for the rescuers, Russ Lewrenson, said all the victims had been found.

 

The weather service had issued two warnings minutes before the tornado hit, Culver said, but it was not clear whether the camp had sirens.

 

"Based on what we were seeing on radar it looked like it could have been a very powerful tornado," said Daniel Nietfeld with the National Weather Service.

 

At least 40 people who were injured in the storm were being taken to area hospitals, said Iowa Homeland Security spokeswoman Julie Tack. Most of the kids who were hurt were out on a hike when the tornado hit, said Lewrenson, of the Mondamin Fire Department.

 

Burgess Health Center in Onawa, Iowa, had treated 19 people from the camp and were warned to expect a bus carrying up to 45 more with cuts and bruises, said spokeswoman Beth Frangedakis.

 

The camp was being secured by the National Guard and police.

 

Gayle Jessen of Fremont, Nebraska, said her 19-year-old son Zach is a staff leader at the camp. He called his parents to say he had a bruise on an arm and was being treated at a hospital.

 

"I'm so relieved my son is OK," Jessen said. She said her husband was headed to the hospital to pick up their son.

 

The tornado touched down as Iowa's eastern half grappled with flooding in several of its major cities. The storm threatened to stretch Iowa's emergency response teams even further.

 

Tack said officials were confident that the state's emergency response teams could handle the crisis because western Iowa had been largely unaffected by the recent flooding.

 

Tornadoes also touched down in southern Minnesota and eastern Nebraska.

 

 

 

 

 

Pics coming SOON!

[CelineAndRene]

Pictures:

 

 

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg36/CelineAndRene/tornado1.jpg

 

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg36/CelineAndRene/tornado2.jpg

 

Credit: Foxnews.com

Edited June 12, 2008 at 05:49 AM by CelineDionFREEEK

[CelineAndRene]

OMG.. this is so scary.. this is near my hometown

 

My mom is a nurse @ Mercy, and her friends Son was 1 of the 3 that was seriously injured. So sad

 

 

I just saw on the news that the 3 are now in stable condition. They will recover 100%

[Davey84]

damn!! sorry to hear that 4 were killed but luckly the 3 other seriously injured will recover!!

 

tornados can do a lot of damage!!

[hamiltonclare]

Poor kids and their families. Your mum does a great job, CDF.

[VintageCeline]

I read this at work, one of my best friends (we live in the UK) has gone to Iowa to work at a kids camp - for the summer. I really hope I hear from him soon! I miss him

 

I hope the family and friends of those are doing ok!!

 

x

Edited June 12, 2008 at 10:54 PM by VintageCeline

[CelineAndRene]

Ohhh i hope your friend is ok VC!

[KimboCosmo]

Thats sad! I didn't know your mom was a nurse, Aly! So is mine!

[CelineAndRene]

LOL!!

 

Yep, she is.. but she hates it.. she hates her hours....