BY ALAN SMITH
It only took an instant to change the landscape on a Ringgold county farm Tuesday afternoon.
A tornado touched down briefly seven miles north of Mount Ayr along U. S. Highway 169 and completely wiped out the large cattle feeding operation owned by Garry Bjustrom on the west side of the road, skipped over some property and then caused a great deal more damage at the property of Terry Weeda on the west side of the road three quarters of a mile on north along the highway.
That was it for the funnel that soon dissipated, but not before it has done damage estimated in the millions of dollars in just a short period.
The destruction could have been worse. Three cows were the only casualties of the storm and the movement on the storm was on track so that the town of Tingley could easily have been right in its sights had the funnel not gone away.
National Weather Service investigators were scheduled to arrive Wednesday afternoon to look over the damage, assess what category of tornado the storm was and try to determine how property like that owned by Charles Long that was right in the line between the two damaged properties escaped unscathed.
It was approximately 5:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when the tornado hit.
Brandon Bjustrom was one of two people on site at the Bjustrom when the storm hit.
A 60 foot by 400 foot cattle shed was picked up first as the storm hit and the two took cover in the home on the property when they saw what was happening.
When he came back out, all the buildings used in the cattle operation were destroyed, Harvestores were sucked in and twisted, equipment was tossed about -- the farm looked like a war zone.
Preliminary estimates of damage were in the three to four million dollar range, but knowing how to put an estimate on having a complete operation destroyed was going to take time.
Neighbor Jim McCreary was out at his mailbox and looking north at the storm when he saw the tornado cloud appear and touch down, sending a cloud of debris into the air.
A number of other people were headed back to homes from work in Mount Ayr about that time and saw the funnel cloud. There were a host of storm chasers in the area too -- the vehicles that chase along when conditions are right for tornadoes to take readings and get pictures of the storm.
After creating the havoc at the Bjustrom farm, the funnel cloud also touched down on the Terry Weeda property.
Limbs where blown through windows, roofing blown away and there was possible major structural damage to the house there. Outbuildings were also destroyed by the storm there.
The Weedas were out of town when the storm hit and had their first look at the damage Wednesday morning. Other family members had helped get the cleanup started and the roof covered there.
A crew was working on resurfacing of Highway 169 in about the same area as the tornado came through and some of the flag crew members were shaken by what they heard and saw as the storm came through.
It didn’t take but a few minutes before neighbors and friends were gathering at the two damage sites to lend a hand with clean up.
Teresa Jackson, Emergency Management director, noted that there were more than 150 volunteers on site working to help with the clean up and to get roofs covered to keep water out.
The efforts with tarps was just in time because by 8:30 p.m. another storm was roaring across the county with a severe thunderstorm warning and people had to stop the efforts.
“We are trained in emergency management situations to make a perimeter and secure the area in situations like this, but that’s just not Ringgold county,” Jackson said.
“People came from all around and soon found something they could do to help,” Jackson said. “That’s just the way people are in Ringgold county.”
The Citizens Corp volunteers were soon working to feed the volunteers and will continue to help as cleanup continues as the week progressed, Jackson noted.
Power was knocked out along Highway 169 from Wishard Chapel to Tingley after lines were blown down across from the Bjustrom farm.
A dozen or so people were without electricity until Southern Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative crews got new line restrung.
Jackson is continuing to help coordinate the relief efforts with the Red Cross and other agencies as the efforts to assess the extent of the damage goes forward.
The storm that did the tornado damage north of Mount Ayr also brought some heavy rain and golf ball sized hail was reported in the Clearfield area as the storm moved through.