Police say people have been taken to a local hospital after a tornado hit a factory in Pella where some people were working.
Pella Police Lt. Shane Cox told KCCI-TV some people from Vermeer Manufacturing were taken to a hospital, but he didn’t know the extent of injuries or the number of people.
He says emergency responders are attempting to get inside the damaged building to see if anyone is trapped inside.
One of the factory’s several manufacturing buildings sustained extensive damage with metal strewn across the parking lot and across the street into a cornfield. Vehicles were overturned and piled onto others.
Several buildings are reported damaged by a tornado in the main business district in Marshalltown, including the historic courthouse.
A spokeswoman for UnityPoint Health says that 40 patients are being evacuated from its hospital in Marshalltown. Patients are being transferred to the health system’s hospitals in Waterloo and Grundy Center.
Initial reports to the National Weather Service indicated the historic Marshall County Courthouse’s tower was damaged in a Thursday afternoon tornado, and a weather service spotter reported vehicles overturned and numerous trees down.
A woman working at Hammer Medical Supply in the city’s downtown says her building has minor damage. She says other nearby buildings including The Orpheum, a theater built in 1948, also are damaged. Another nearby brick building is missing one side leaving the interior living quarters visible to the outside.
Marshalltown is a city of 27,000 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Des Moines.
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