People in Iowa, Minn. survey storm damage

PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Half of this small town lay in ruins or heavily damaged Monday after a deadly tornado that ripped apart a stretch of northern Iowa.

The Sunday afternoon twister killed six people in Iowa, four of them in Parkersburg and two others in nearby New Hartford. In neighboring Minnesota, a child was killed by violent weather in a suburb of St. Paul.

“You really are overwhelmed when you see it,” Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said at a news conference Monday after touring the Parkersburg area.

Rescuers continued picking through the wreckage in search of possible victims but officials said they were hopeful that no one else remained to be found.

In addition to those killed, about 70 people were injured, two of them in critical condition.

Officials counted 222 homes destroyed, 21 businesses destroyed and more than 400 homes damaged. Among the buildings destroyed were city hall, the high school and the town’s sole grocery store and gas station. That’s about half of the homes in Parkersburg destroyed or severely damaged, said Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson.

Warning sirens sounded early enough to give residents time to seek shelter, said Parkersburg Mayor Bob Haylock.

However, Haylock said most of those killed in Parkersburg were in basements. All were adults, he said.