Iowa recently has had some really weird weather. One day it’s really nice outside feeling like summer then later in the day the weather completely changes and there’s tornadoes all around Iowa. In this last week we’ve had two nights where there were tornadoes, which is not typical because we sometimes have one day a year when we have them. These tornadoes that happened in some areas weren’t very bad and some areas were bad. Iowa had 12 confirmed tornadoes in the EF-1 and EF-2 category. Out of all the tornadoes there were 5 EF-1’s and 7 EF-2’s. EF in EF-1 and EF-2 means Enhanced Fujita. EF-1 tornadoes have wind speeds of 86 to 110 MPH while EF-2 tornadoes have 111 to 135 MPH winds. These tornadoes were located mainly in Keokuk county and parts of Washington and Johnson counties. Most heard about Ottumwa Iowa where houses were ripped apart by the high winds. 

Most Iowans see tornadoes as some kind of joke because there’s always people standing on their decks watching the tornadoes form without thinking about taking any kind of action to keep themselves safe. If you have never experienced tornadoes it seems pretty cool to watch, but as myself I was in my basement when a tornado hit my house and garage. The high winds lasted about 30 seconds and ripped apart my barn garage and parts of my house. We were lucky to get into the basement in time because a tree fell into our house breaking a window and throwing glass all throughout the main floor of the house. That tornado was classified as an EF-4 which has 166 to 200 MPH wind speeds.

Taking precautions for tornadoes should be your first priority which most Iowans don’t do, we like to watch the storm. Some precautions that you should take are when watching the news and they say to report to a safe area and take shelter. Find a room typically in the basement that’s going to protect your head from any debris if the building collapses. Find a room with no windows because if the glass breaks it could fatally hurt you. If you are on the road and you see a tornado pull the vehicle into the ditch, this will help keep you out of the heavy winds that are coming.