WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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4 dead, 40 hurt as tornado hits Boy Scout camp
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-12 14:44 DES MOINES, Iowa -- A tornado struck a western Iowa Boy Scout camp Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring 40, an Iowa Homeland Security spokeswoman said. A search and rescue team has been deployed to the camp near Little Sioux, Homeland Security spokeswoman Julie Tack said. She said the camp was covered with debris and downed trees after the tornado hit about 7 pm.
Some victims might be trapped under debris, Tack said. "We are still receiving information and we're processing it as we receive it," she said. There were 93 campers and 25 staff members at the camp, Tack said. The campers were between 13 and 18 years old and were attending a leadership training camp. "They were considered some of the best in the area," Tack said. At least 40 people who were injured in the storm were being taken to area hospitals. Gayle Jessen of Fremont, Neb., said her 19-year-old son Zach is a staff leader at the camp. He called his parents to say he had a bruise on an arm and was being treated at a hospital. "I'm so relieved my son is OK," Jessen said. She said her husband was headed to the hospital to pick up their son. David Hunt, chairman of the Mid-America Boy Scout Council's Goldenrod District, which covers several eastern Nebraska counties, said he believed the boys were from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The 1,800 acre ranch is about 40 miles north of Omaha, Neb. Its amenities include hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range. The tornado touched down as Iowa's eastern half grappled with flooding in several of its major cities. The storm threatened to stretch Iowa's emergency response teams even further. Tack said officials were confident that the state's emergency response teams could handle the crisis because western Iowa had been largely unaffected by the recent flooding. Tornadoes also touched down in southern Minnesota and eastern Nebraska. One struck a farm about near Springfield, Minn., about 100 miles southwest of Minneapolis, causing extensive damage to outbuildings. No people or livestock were injured. Other tornadoes in Minnesota damaged trees, pushed a manufactured house off its foundation and knocked down outbuildings. There were no immediate reports of damage from the Nebraska twisters, though a lightning strike knocked out radar at the National Weather Service's office in Valley, about 30 miles northwest of Omaha. |
