Grain bin wrecked by the Keota tornado. (KCRG TV photo)
Residents living near Keota southwest of Iowa City are still cleaning up following the large tornado that went through the area Friday.
There’s not much left on the farm Lindsay Greiner owns that isn’t mangled, broken, or upended after the EF-4 twister hit. He told KCRG TV he saw the tornado touch down. “We were watching it from our window, and I told my wife that is the biggest tornado I’ve ever seen in my life,” Greiner says.
Lindsay Greiner’s son Keaton lives on the property and Keaton says it has been in the family for decades. “My grandfather’s 85 and was born on this farm. So, we’ve been here a long time. So you know, I don’t know if it’s totally sunk in that it’s all gone,” he says.
The task of cleaning up such utter devastation was overwhelming — but the Greiner says help arrived soon after the storm.
“Friends, neighbors, there were people here that I didn’t even know,” Lindsay Greiner says. “…It almost makes you cry when you think about it, that people care that much about other people.“
Just across the from the Greiners the storm also destroyed a house Craig Hansen owned. He told KCRG TV it was the same story with the volunteer help. “You can’t beat Iowa farmers and equipment and resourcefulness,” Hansen says. “I always said I could muster an army tomorrow if I need to. Just make a few phone calls, and we all got equipment and we all know how to work.”
Both Hansen and the Greiners say there were so many offers for help that they told some of them t to go check with others who might need help. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit the Keota area was the biggest one out of the 16 confirmed Friday. It had sustained winds estimated at 170 miles an hour.