Muscatine Journal Special Report

BREAKING NEWS: (Updated 6:05 p.m.) Authorities in Muscatine are asking gawkers and curiosity seekers to stay away from the storm-ravaged area.Police and Muscatine County Sheriff’s department officials, frustrated by a surge of traffic in the hardest-hit parts of the county, are asking that anyone who doesn’t live in the area or is not coming to help family or friends to stay away.

5:23 p.m. - As Bandag employees joined Bridgestone Americas executives Friday in Muscatine to celebrate “Day One” of the Bandag-Bridgestone merger, a tornado sent them seeking shelter at Bandag’s Learning Center.

Although Bandag’s headquarters were near the eye of the storm, none of the company’s facilities sustained any physical damage. But company officials were aware of the destruction that surrounded them.

Within a few hours of the storm, the company turned over a check for $25,000 to the Red Cross of Muscatine for tornado relief efforts.

“The event was a celebration about bringing the best together and that has happened in many ways — one unexpected way was when we were all brought together in the tornado shelter,” said Bill Block, Bandag’s corporate communications director.

In addition to employees and Bridgestone executives, elected officials, local dignitaries and state officials were on hand when the tornado warning came in about 12:10 p.m.

The storm did leave the company’s Plant 4 and its Research and Development Center without power, which caused the company to relocate its customer service operations to the Learning Center. It also canceled tours of those facilities planned as part of the celebration.

— Jennifer DeWitt

4:21 p.m.

Six people had come into Unity Healthcare, the hospital in Muscatine, for treatment for storm-related injuries as of 4 p.m. today.

The most serious injuries included a broken hip and a possible skull fracture, but others had lacerations and other minor injuries, shift director Dorothy Smith said.

“The town looks awful, and I’m sure there are more people — like down in Fruitland — who may come in later,” Smith said. “They may be walking around and probably should be seen, but they’re more worried about their property right now.”

—Kay Luna

3:37 p.m.

Lisa Cunningham was standing outside when she saw a rotating tornado touch down today a block away from her work place at the EconoLodge Cantebury Inn at 2402 Park Ave., Muscatine.

No guests were at the hotel at the time, but all the employees immediately fled to the basement, said Cunningham, the front desk manager.

A couple of people driving in the area pulled over and ran inside the hotel to take shelter, too, she said.

The hotel is open and sustained only minor damage. Mostly, the lot is full of “everyone else’s debris,” Cunningham said.

The hotel is anticipating “getting slammed” tonight with business from people whose properties suffered damage or are driving through the area, she said. People already are coming in off the road, looking for shelter, she added.

Among the debris behind the hotel, someone found a sign at an apartment complex that says Columbus Junction – a community 25 miles away, Cunningham said.

“We are so thanking God right now that everyone’s OK, nobody got hurt,” she said. “Everybody’s good.”

— Kay Luna

3:29 p.m.

Students at some area schools left classes seeking shelter in the lower levels of their buildings after emergency sirens sounded.

Davenport and Rock Island schools were still in session Friday afternoon when severe weather hit the Quad-City area. Students were also in class at Neil Armstrong Elementary, a balanced-calendar school in the Bettendorf School District.

In Davenport, Buchanan, Wilson and Jackson elementary schools and West High School had already canceled classes for the day because of a water main break. Teachers from Blue Grass Elementary who were on field trips at Camp Abe Lincoln and the Rocket Park in Bettendorf took students to safe areas, said Karen Farley, a spokeswoman for Davenport schools. 

School officials at Pleasant Valley junior and senior high schools brought all students inside and kept them from leaving the building until the storm passed, said Jim Spelhaug, Pleasant Valley superintendent. Elementary schools in the district let out before the weather hit.

Districts in North Scott, United Township High School and Moline already let out for the summer, according to their online calendars.

— Sheena Dooley

3:18

Check out the photos from the storm We will be updating the gallery as we get them.

3:14 p.m

Employees at H.J. Heinz had five minutes notice to seek shelter before a tornado hit their plant in central Muscatine at 12:20 p.m. Friday.

Michael Mullen, the company’s director of global communications, said all 125 employees were sent to the basement of the main plant. “We’re pleased to say no employees were injured.”

However, the plant — which includes one main structure and several other buildings — sustained isolated damage to a number of storage areas as well as some of the outer buildings.

“We’re still surveying the damage,” Mullen said.

In addition to the tornado, H.J. Heinz also had an electrical fire at the main plant during the tornado. It was quickly extinguished. The plant is at 1357 Isett Ave.

Mullen said employees were given the option to go home, and some chose to leave. But the plant remained operational and had no plans to stop production. In Muscatine, Heinz makes ketchup and sauces.

3:01 p.m.

Rain hit the Davenport Municipal Airport in Mount Joy this afternoon as last-minute preparations were being made for the Quad-City Air Show.

Margee Hopper, who runs the show with her husband, Ken, said there will be no delays in the show’s opening this afternoon. Gates will open at 4 p.m. The show starts around 7 p.m., and fireworks are scheduled for 9:30 p.m.

Although heavy rains pelted the airport, there was little damage. A lemonade stand was slightly pushed over. People at the airport at the time took cover in the airport terminal.

2:46 p.m.

Applebee’s restaurant in Muscatine is closed now, waiting for crews to arrive to check whether any natural gas is leaking in the wake of the tornado.

The restaurant was in the midst of its busy lunch hour when the tornado hit about 12:45 p.m., cracking windows, damaging some ventilation hoods on the roof and knocking its marquee sign down, shift manager Tera Roth said.

About 50 customers were ushered into the kitchen area, and employees went into the freezer as the tornado went over, she said.

“We heard it from the freezer,” she said. “It sounded like a train and lots of loud thunder.”

— Kay Luna

2:36 p.m.

At Wendy’s Hamburgers restaurant in Muscatine, the storm missed the building but damaged the main sign and a tree, co-manager Tina Painter said.

Debris was swirling in the air as the storm hit the store at 2519 Park Ave.

“I saw the debris flying around in the air, so I knew to get the crew and the customers to shelter,” Painter said. “We had 15 or 20 customers. They went into our bathrooms and down the hallway. Our crew went into our walk-in cooler.

“We were lucky there. I don’t know how.”

2:34 p.m.

"Somehow we managed to come through it OK,” said Toni Klaren, the manager of the Muscatine Mall. “It was coming east straight toward us and turned north. I saw the tornado and the trash cans in the air. I’m not sure how close it came.”

During the tornado, she said a few hundred employees and shoppers were sent to seek shelter in emergency hallways in the mall.

After the storm, the mall’s parking lot was littered with trash cans and tree limbs, but no serious damage.

“Just two blocks north of here, they got hit pretty hard,” she said. “I was a little scared, but we survived everything. We’re good here.”

The Wal-Mart Supercenter suffered minor damage as air conditioning units were ripped from the roof and a couple of semi-trucks were overturned in the parking lot. The store also lost an outdoor greenhouse, said Michael Pokorny, the store’s assistant manager.

During the storm, the store’s employees and customers were directed to wait in the center of the store, said Pokorny, who was not in the store during the storm.

2:29 p.m.

In the middle of the storm Friday, a bank robber hit in northwest Davenport.

The man entered US Bank, 4004 Northwest Blvd., at 1:25 p.m., displayed a handgun and left with an undisclosed amount of cash, said Capt. David Struckman of the Davenport Police Department.

He is described as a black male in his 20s, medium build with clean-shaven or short hair. He left the area on foot, Struckman said. Police are examining videotapes of the incident and may release a photo later.

 — Ann McGlynn

2:17 p.m.

Cars are turned upside down. One car is resting on top of another one.

Glass is blown out of the windows, and debris is laying everywhere at Toyota of Muscatine, where the building and car lot sustained severe damage today as a tornado directly hit the property and ravaged the surrounding area.

About half of the dealership’s inventory and the building’s roof and air-conditioning units were damaged in the twister, as about 25 employees huddled together in a small storm shelter, sales and finance manager Jimmy Greenhaw said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he said.

The dealership still is surveying the damage at its site at 310 Cleveland St.

Greenhaw said “pieces of McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Applebees are everywhere,” too.

Toyota employees had plenty of warning, Greenhaw said, adding that the sirens were going off and police and sheriff’s deputies were out warning people before the tornado hit.

“When it went over, the building shook and all the air got sucked out of the dealership,” he said. “Our ears popped. It was a very, very eerie feeling. It was something else.”

— Kay Luna

2:14 p.m.

Donna Dubberke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Quad-Cities office, said early indications are that no tornadoes struck ground in Scott or Rock Island counties.

"It appears (Muscatine County) had the most damage," she said. "We have not received reports of tornadoes in the Quad-Cities."

Dubberke said there were reports of quarter-sized hail in Rock Island and strong wind gusts in north Davenport. One gust near the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on Elmore Avenue reached 60 mph.

Maj. Mike Brown of the Scott County Sheriff's Department also said there appeared to be little damage in the unincorporated areas of Scott County. In Davenport, lightning struck St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 2363 W. Third St., and heavy rain caused isolated urban flooding, according to Police Capt. David Struckman.

Previously:

A severe line of storms stretching from Muscatine past Dubuque, Iowa, left a trail of debris on Friday afternoon. There was severe damage in the Muscatine, Fruitland and Grandview areas. See Saturday's Muscatine Journal for extensive storm covereage in photos and stories. Unconfirmed reports by weather spotters say at least one tornado has been seen in Cedar County. Keep up to date with the latest information as the storm moves through the area by staying logged on here. For the latest National Weather Service sever weather reports, click here.

01:17 p.m.

Muscatine County was hit by a series of strong thunderstorms and at least one tornado shortly after noon Friday as the storm moved toward the Quad-Cities.

The Quad-City area was under a tornado warning until 1:30 p.m.

Jeff Carter, the county’s emergency manager, said early reports indicate six homes were destroyed in the Fruitland area, directly to the southwest of the city of Muscatine, Iowa. Another empty house was on fire, he reported.

He also heard reports that the Muscatine Mall was damaged, a semi-trailer was turned over at the Heinz factory and that farms were damaged in the Wilton and Durant areas.

Carter said there were no known fatalities or injuries and that “we think everyone is accounted for.”

The tornado sirens sounded around 12:10 p.m., and the storm moved through quickly, exiting Muscatine County by 1 p.m., Carter said.

Witnesses in downtown Muscatine, Iowa, reported seeing a funnel cloud about 12:30 p.m. in Muscatine County. Reports were coming in of trees and power lines down along Hershey, Clinton, Mulberry and Isaac street areas.

1:34 p.m.

Tornado warning remains in effect until 1:45 p.m.

1:35 p.m.

Tornado watch remains in effect until 7 p.m. This storm is producing minor urban flooding.

1:50 p.m.

All tornado warnings for the area have been canceled.