LEON, Iowa – Gov. Tom Vilsack declared three Iowa counties disaster areas on Friday after wind and rainstorms pulled down a nursing home’s wall, dropped softball-size hail, damaged crops and raised fears of flooding.
Residents in the southern Iowa town of Leon cleaned up branches, limbs and other debris, as crews repaired cable connections and power lines ripped from homes by Thursday night’s storm.
“It was terrible. Oh, that noise! It was a roar,” said Gerata Scott, 78, who said she prayed as she watched the storm unfold from her living room chair.
The disaster declaration covered Decatur, Boone and Marshall counties.
Police in Hancock County, in northern Iowa, reported homes and cars damaged by hail the size of softballs.
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