An Iowa worker with the American Red Cross says he’s stunned by the destruction from the tornadoes that hit the southeastern U-S a little over a week ago. Marvin Shultz is Emergency Services Director for the Central Iowa chapter. Shultz called Radio Iowa this morning from his cell phone in what’s left of Jasper, Alabama. He says hundreds of houses were leveled and there’s absolutely nothing left of them. He says he saw a home that had a safe room built into a closet, and the only thing left is the safe room.Shultz, a former paramedic, is working with federal, state, and county emergency management, helping to organize relief to affected families as efficiently as possible. He says his assignment as a government liaison officer is full of both good and bad tasks. More than 400 homes were damaged in Alabama alone. At least 35 people are dead, more than 200 injured, from the series of 70 tornadoes that tore across nine states. Tornadoes hit: Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Shultz says Alabama is in particularly sad shape due to the timing of the strong storms, as some of the deaths occurred after the all clear was given for one storm, and another storm then rolled through.Iowans who want to offer financial help can call 800 GIVE LIFE.
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