Midwest
More bad weather could hit Iowa, where 3 powerful tornadoes caused millions in damage
For block after block through the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, the destructive power of an EF-4 tornado that ripped apart more than 100 of the town’s homes in just one minute is evident in the muddy, shattered mess left behind.
All along the mile-long swath Thursday was the deafening clamor of heavy equipment scooping up the splintered homes, smashed vehicles and shredded trees. But on either side of that path, picturesque houses and lawns seem untouched, and one might be hard-pressed to believe a twister packing peak winds of 175-185 mph (109-115 kph) had ravaged the community of 2,000, killing four people and injuring at least 35.
STORMS SPIN UP TORNADOES IN IOWA THAT CAUSE INJURIES, TOPPLE WIND TURBINES
More than 202 homes were destroyed by a series of tornadoes that raked the state on Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday at a news conference. Most were in and around Greenfield. The count does not include businesses or other buildings destroyed or damaged, like Greenfield’s 25-bed hospital.
The havoc spun by the tornado now shows on the faces of people still processing how quickly homes and lives were shattered.
Among those killed were Dean and Pam Wiggins, said their grandson Tom Wiggins.
Local residents clean up debris from a tornado damaged home, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Greenfield, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
On Thursday, Tom Wiggins tried to find any of his grandparents’ mementos that remained after the tornado demolished their home, leaving little more than the structure’s foundation. He described them as “incredibly loved by not only our family but the entire town.”
Not far away, Bill Yount, 64, also was cleaning up.
“It’s like somebody took a bomb,” said Yount, gesturing to the land — covered with wood, debris, trees stripped of their leaves, heavy machinery and equipment to clean up the mess.
Yount’s house was the only one “that really survived. And I don’t know why,” Yount said, pointing to the devastated remains of his neighbors’ homes.
Also surveying the damage was 80-year-old Edith Schaecher, who was briefly trapped in her collapsed house with her daughter until neighbors helped them out. They sought shelter in a basement concrete shower, holding pillows over their heads to protect from the falling debris.
“It was over within probably 30 seconds,” she said, destroying the home where she had lived for 47 years.
Schaecher’s neighbor, Joan Mitchell, was with her 57-year-old son in the home she’d lived in for 10 years when the tornado roared through.
She had ignored the tornado warnings — until she was knocked to the floor and two recliners flew on top of her.
“I kept praying and praying, and after that I started hollering, ‘Help! Help! Help!’” Mitchell recalled. Both she and her son survived with bumps and bruises.
The governor praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response on Thursday as she sought a disaster declaration for multiple counties. After surveying Tuesday’s destruction, the National Weather Service determined that three separate powerful tornados carved paths totaling 130 miles (209.21 kilometers) across Iowa, according to Donna Dubberke, the meteorologist in charge in Des Moines.
Colton Newbury, 24, was working in Des Moines when the twister hit, nearly 60 miles (97 kilometers) away from his wife and 10-month-old daughter at their home in Greenfield.
He rushed back only to find their home was “a hole in the ground,” he said. His wife hadn’t heard the sirens. Newbury said his cousin ran out to get his wife and baby, and they rode out the tornado in the cousin’s basement. The winds pulled entire homes away, he said: “About every house on the block, just foundations left.”
Still more severe weather was moving across the Midwest. The weather service’s Storm Prediction Center shows an enhanced severe storm risk late Thursday into Friday morning for much of Nebraska and western Iowa, including areas where tornadoes hit Iowa and hurricane-force winds, large hail and torrential rain flooded streets and basements in Nebraska.
This latest band of severe weather — including possible tornadoes — will hit Iowa “when people are sleeping,” warned NWS meteorologist Andrew Ansorge of Des Moines.
“Because of the damage already there, it won’t take much wind to inflict even more damage on these homes,” Ansorge said. “It’s just a bad deal all the way around.”
More severe weather also could hit Saturday and Sunday in storm-damaged parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. An emergency was declared in Temple, Texas, after powerful storms ripped through the city of more than 90,000. Thousands lost power, Thursday’s classes were canceled and nearby Fort Cavazos reported debris blocking traffic at the Army installation.
Before Tuesday’s twister in Greenfield, this year’s deadliest tornado was the one that killed three people in Logan County, Ohio on March 14. The Greenfield tornado set a new grim record as it obliterated homes and crumpled massive power-producing wind turbines outside the city.
The Greenfield tornado, initially rated an EF-3, was identified Thursday as the third EF4 tornado of 2024, with the first in Marietta-Lake Murray, Oklahoma, in April and the second in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, earlier this month. On average there are three or four EF4 tornadoes a year with a record high of 13 in 2011, according to Storm Prediction Center Warning Coordination Meteorologist Matt Elliott.
It was so destructive that it took authorities more than a day to account for the area’s residents, and Iowa’s Department of Public Safety said the number of injured is likely even higher. Officials haven’t yet released the names of the Greenfield victims.
A fifth person was killed Tuesday about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Greenfield when her car was blown off the road in a tornado, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Monica Zamarron, 46, died in the crash Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Reynolds has requested an expedited presidential disaster declaration for those Iowa counties that sustained significant damage. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined her at the news conference in Greenfield and said that her agency will process the request as quickly as possible to get resources — which could include funding for temporary housing — to those left without homes.
This is a historically busy tornado season in the U.S., in an era when climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world. April had the country’s second-highest number of tornadoes on record.
Through Tuesday, 859 tornadoes had been confirmed this year, 27% more than the U.S. sees on average, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Iowa has recorded the most, with 81 confirmed twisters.
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Minneapolis apartment plagued by rowdy teens
Tenants at a Minneapolis apartment complex say they’re fed up with rowdy teenagers partying in and hanging around their building. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains the nuisance.
(FOX 9) – Residents in the Uptown neighborhood said they are frustrated and scared after a group of teenagers broke into their apartment building and caused chaos over the weekend.
Tenants describe chaotic scene at Uptown apartment complex
What we know:
Tenants at The Venue on Knox Apartments said a group of teenagers broke through the front door late Saturday night and got inside the building.
“They smashed the front of the building. The entire door was smashed,” said a tenant, who did not want to share his name. “As soon as I saw that was happening, I got out of there.”
Once inside, tenants said the teenagers threw a loud party on the roof.
“Very loud parties. I hear them at night. They have emcees. They’re shouting, barking orders,” the tenant recounted. “I didn’t know where that was coming from. The fact that it was on the rooftop, and I’m on the second floor, like that I could hear it, just shows it’s really out of hand.”
Police said someone pulled the fire alarm, forcing everyone outside in the middle of the night.
After that, a tenant said he was attacked by a group of at least 10 teenagers, causing injuries to his head, arms and body.
City leader, police respond to concerns
Local perspective:
In a statement on Tuesday, City Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer referred to the teenagers as “urban explorers” and said they are trespassing and causing problems in Uptown.
“There have been these cases of ‘urban explorers’ who scale to rooftop patios, are trespassing and creating havoc… Authorities are working together to put in place some strategies to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Police said they documented the property damage, but have not made any arrests.
The chaos that unfolded over the weekend came just days after city leaders announced new plans to address crime in the Uptown neighborhood.
Tenants said apartment management has not addressed the incident.
“They haven’t sent us a single email. I thought there would be emails. I thought there would be phone calls to us. They’ve been completely unresponsive,” said a tenant.
Apartment management did not respond to a request for comment.
INDIANAPOLIS — A woman was critically injured in a shooting on the northeast side of Indianapolis Tuesday night.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the 5500 block of East 41st Street around 8:45 p.m. to investigate a shooting. When police arrived at the scene, they located an adult female with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Per IMPD, the victim was transported from the the scene to a local hospital in critical condition. Police reported that hospital staff later provided them with an update that indicated the victim remains in critical condition.
Investigators believe the shooting occurred inside a residence on 41st Street. One shell casing was found in the front yard of that residence near its driveway. Police do not believe that stray shell casing is related to the shooting in any way.
Law enforcement detained a person of interest during its investigation of the shooting. IMPD has not yet provided any of the detainee’s identifying information like sex, age or name.
Police do not believe the shooting poses any ongoing threat to the public. Investigators are, however, still encouraging area residents to call IMPD at (317) 327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477 to pass along any information they may have on the shooting.
The Collins Apartments on Carter Road is one of two major developments to open in the past year on Scranton Peninsula in Cleveland’s Flats. But it wasn’t enough to meet Greater Cleveland’s demand for more multifamily units (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Multifamily construction not meeting demand
A new report released today by international real estate firm Colliers shows that multifamily development in Greater Cleveland isn’t keeping up with demand. The result is that average rents in the Cleveland area are now the highest of any metro area in the state.
Colliers said that 1,601 apartments are typically built each year in Greater Cleveland to meet an average annual demand of about 1,976 multifamily housing units — the second-highest demand in the state behind Columbus’ 7,156 units.
But while metro Columbus had 9,123 apartments under construction in the first quarter of 2026, metro Cleveland had only 1,203 apartments being built in that same three-month period.
By comparison, Greater Cincinnati has a typical annual demand for 1,121 units of multifamily housing which is met by an annual average of 1,944 units. But in the first quarter of 2026, Cincinnati had 3,575 apartments under construction.
That translated into an average rent per square foot in January-March 2026 of $1.60 in Greater Cleveland, $1.58 in Cincinnati and $1.47 in Columbus.
More apartment construction is needed in Greater Cleveland to keep up with demand. Without it, the metro area will continue to have the highest rents per square foot in the state (NEOtrans).
The typical size of an apartment in Cincinnati is slightly larger than those in Cleveland, so the average monthly rent for an apartment in Cincinnati is the highest at $1,511. Cleveland is next at $1,419 and Columbus third at $1,405.
“The development pipeline (in Cleveland) continues to shrink, with units under construction falling to about 1,203 from 1,461 last quarter and 3,672 one year ago,” Collier said in its report.
“That drop in future supply is one of the most important trends in the market right now, because it should help Cleveland maintain healthy occupancy and support rent growth as 2026 moves forward,” the report explained, noting that higher rents will attract new construction.
“That is a strong signal for the market, especially after several years of elevated deliveries,” the report noted. “Over the last five years, Cleveland has generally operated in the mid-95 percent occupancy range, and current performance remains in line with that trend.”
The other big development on Cleveland’s Scranton Peninsula is Triton at The Flats, opening after The Collins across the street (NEOtrans).
In part, Colliers used data generated by Real Capital Analytics, a data model managed by MSCI Inc., a finance, equity and real estate analysis company headquartered in New York City.
“Cleveland’s multifamily market remained healthy in Q1 2026, with inventory rising to approximately 178,925 units and occupancy holding at 95.8 percent,” Colliers said in its report.
The report noted that while construction locally has dropped below demand, vacant units are filling the gap. Yet Cleveland had fewer vacant units than Ohio’s other two big C’s.
“Vacant units totaled about 7,533, down from roughly 7,719 last quarter,” Colliers said of Cleveland’s apartment market. “Demand continued to absorb most of the new supply, keeping overall fundamentals stable.”
Not all new multifamily inventory comes from new construction. In Downtown Cleveland, most of it comes from converting older, obsolete office buildings into housing plus other uses like hotel and retail, as seen here with Project Scarlet’s remake of the Rose Building at East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue (NEOtrans).
Greater Columbus may have Ohio’s largest multifamily inventory at 218,113 apartments, it also has the most vacant units at 10,382. Greater Cincinnati’s inventory had 173,050 apartments with 7,562 of them vacant in the Q1 2026.
“Market conditions also improved from a year ago,” Colliers said. “Occupancy increased from 94.5 percent in Q1 2024 to 95.8 percent in Q1 2026, showing that Cleveland has been able to work through added inventory without a meaningful drop in performance.”
Leasing conditions are still competitive in the Cleveland market and the market remains on solid footing. Colliers said newer projects are creating pressure in certain pockets, especially where owners are competing for renters more aggressively, but the broader market continues to benefit from steady demand and a stable base of occupied units.
“In simple terms, Cleveland is not overheating, but it is also not slipping,” the report summarized. “It is holding up well.”
END
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