A storm leveled Nelly’s Detail shop in Arlington Monday.
The National Weather Service is trying to confirm if the complex line of severe thunderstorms that moved across the state Monday morning produced any tornadoes in northeast Iowa.
Surveyors are looking at the areas of destruction between Maynard and Arlington and around Garber for possible tornado activity.
National Weather Service officials say it’s likely there could have been a few EF-0 or EF-1 tornadoes in those areas because the damage there is more intense than in other areas. At the very least, officials say the damage in Fayette and Clayton counties indicates peak wind speeds may have exceeded 100 miles-an-hour at times.
According to the National Weather Service, most of the damage in northeast Iowa relates to winds in the 60-to-80-mile-an-hour range. Monday’s storms produced a combination of large hail, damaging wind and 2 to 5-inch rainfall in a short period of time, which caused localized flooding.
One business in the Arlington area, Nelly’s Detail, was destroyed by the powerful winds. Jenal Fettkether is owner of the vehicle detail operation. “It completely flattened my shop,” Fettkether said. “Not just my shop, but our farm shop…all my detail supplies in it and our tractors and combines.”
Fettkether is looking for a temporary place where she can set up her business through the summer. “It’s completely gone. It’s leveled to the ground, so I’ve just got to rebuild,” Fettkether said. A home in southwest Dyersville got hit with two disasters on Monday. A tree limb first ripped through the roof of the home in the morning. Then, just a few hours later, the house started on fire.
Despite all of the destruction from the storms, there were no reports of serious injuries.
Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein and Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester contributed to this story.