Town of Thurman, Iowa is Leveled by Tornado

By: Bill Steckis Email

Updated: Sun 9:14 AM, Apr 15, 2012

As predicted by many, the Iowa-Nebraska border was hit hard by storms Saturday and Sunday. Seventy-Five percent of the town of Thurman Iowa is destroyed. Residents were evacuated and either went to neighboring families, friends, or a nearby emergency shelter. Five semi trucks were blown off Interstate 29 near Thurman and nine fire crews helped the cause, including one from Nebraska City.
The Travis family was stranded. "He got caught at the fire station and I made it to the vault at the bank," said Susan Travis of Thurman.

A town of 200 scurries for shelter. Extensive damage was expected and that's exactly what the storm delivered. Thurman resident Kyle Taylor got home just before mother nature hit his property. "It started raining like crazy, tree limbs were spinning around, went into the bathroom and it was all over pretty much."

Sirens woke Thurman Resident Mike Clark. "The Transformer Blew and this limb somehow went flying and it ended up on my car."

As people walk the streets they are visibly stunned. "It seemed to last forever and ever," said Travis. The fire and rescue crews conducted door to door searches. "We went to every residence to make sure where people were staying and people knew where they were because the houses were not viable where the shelters are, who to contact ad the shelters," said Nebraska Assistant Fire Chief John Shrader.

Susan Travis and her husband were caught outside as the storm hit. "I watched as the trailor and the stuff was blowing across here," said Travis. But she found the silver lining in the gray clouds. "luckily no one was hurt."

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