Thread: IA-Tornado hits Boy Scout camp in western Iowa

Tornado hits Boy Scout camp in western Iowa
A tornado tore through a Scout camp this evening and left behind up to 30 injured people and possible fatalities.

The camp is the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, located between Blencoe and Little Sioux, about one hour north of Omaha in Iowa's Loess Hills.

Becky Griffis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Omaha, said the tornado went through at about 6:35 p.m, about 12 minutes after the warning went out.


Who was at the camp was not immediately known.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... 11078/1001

BULLETIN: 40 people reported injured by storm

40 people were reported injured by a storm or tornado at Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Blencoe, Iowa. Many of the injuries are reported to be head injuries. The Journal website will update the situation as soon as it gets reports from the scene.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/article ... 01093f.txt

Everone in Nebraska, Iowa Minnesota and Kansas--keep safe.

Southwestern Iowa Tornado Claims Four Lives

National Weather Service is reporting that officials have confirmed four fatalities in Southwestern Iowa tornado.

A tornado touched down around 6:45 tonight just east of Blencoe, Iowa.

The tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, claiming four lives. The ages of the victims are not known at this time.

Officials are also saying 30 to 40 people were injured.

KTIV will bring you the latest as information comes in.



Updated: June 11, 2008, 8:01 pm

http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=26199

Everone in Nebraska, Iowa Minnesota and Kansas--keep safe.

Ditto on that!

I wish to thank all the people of different countries that we have contributed for helping them through their crisises,, and their help in ours now.
Currently as 0% for all the BILLIONS the Bushes have pushed offshore.
Hope this crap ends.
JBG

4 Dead At Little Sioux Boy Scout Camp
Tornadoes Rip Through Omaha Area

POSTED: 7:56 pm CDT June 11, 2008
UPDATED: 8:37 pm CDT June 11, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. -- Four people are dead after a tornado touched down at a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa, and as many as 40 people have been injured.

It hit the Little Sioux Scout Camp, just north of Council Bluffs, at about 7 p.m. Courtney Greene, the spokeswoman for Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, said that authorities have been told of multiple injuries and the potential loss of life. A search and rescue team from Sioux City has been sent to the area.

Parents with children at the camp can call 402-431-9272 for more information. About 100 campers were said to be at the camp when the weather hit. Authorities said the scene is chaotic and asked residents and parents to stay away from the camp and allow rescuers to work.

Hospitals in the Little Sioux area have been told to be on stand-by for injured patients.

Greene said that a large number of state troopers are on scene and that a search and rescue team has been dispatched to the area from Sioux City. She saikd she doesn't know why they are needed, just that local officials asked for the team.

DOT crews have been sent to the area with chain saws to help clear a path for rescuers. The tornado, which was reported at about 7 p.m., downed a large number of trees.

Elsewhere, the Omaha metro was receiving heavy rain and areas of the metro were under tornado warnings. Reports of funnels were called in from near Mead and Wahoo in Saunders County.

An emergency manager from Crawford County, Iowa, confirmed that a tornado touched down 7 miles south of Charter Oak at Q Avenue.

Damage reports were coming in from Elkhorn near Skyline Drive and West Dodge Road.

Stay with KETV and KETV.com for updates.

http://www.ketv.com/news/16579276/detail.html

Scout camp tornado victims' names released

By LEE ROOD • lrood@dmreg.com • Copyright Des Moines Register • June 12, 2008

LOREN SAWYER/ONAWA SENTINEL

Rubble is all that remained of the ranger's house at Little Sioux Scout Ranch in the wake of the deadly tornado.

Of the four Boy Scouts who died in last night's western Iowa tornado, one is from Iowa and three are from Omaha, officials said this morning.

They are Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa; Josh Fennen, 13, of Omaha; Sam Thomsen, 13; of Omaha; and Ben Petrzilka, 14, of Omaha.


Details released in news conference
The announcement was made at an Omaha news conference this morning at the Blencoe, Iowa, community center.

At least 42 of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday morning, with everything from cuts and bruises to major head trauma, said Gene Meyer, Iowa's public safety commissioner.

Three of the injured to a hospital in Omaha, one with a skull fracture, one with a pelvis fracture and one with aspinal injury, Meyer said.

In addition, four were taken to a Sioux City hospital, and are now in serious but stable condition.

In all, 48 people were injured. Injuries ranged from serious head trauma to cuts and bruises.

The news conference was to be attended by Iowa governor Chet Culver and his counterpart from Nebraska, Dave Heinemann. Later in the day, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds will join the group, along with Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Leaders praise scouts' actions; panicked parents seek their children
Scouts from all three states were among the 93 Boy Scouts and 25 staff members attending the camp. Forty-eight people were injured. Injuries ranged from serious head trauma to cuts and bruises.

The Little Sioux Scout Ranch is four and a half miles northeast of the town of Little Sioux in Harrison County, about 40 miles up the Missouri River from Omaha on the Iowa side.

Early reports indicated that the Scouts had split into two groups in two different shelters when the tornado hit, about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. A small group had been out hiking. Some of the most badly injured Scouts were in a shelter, hit by flying bricks and debris.

Dan Neary, chairman of the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said "this truly is one of the most difficult times in the history of the Boy Scouts." The Mid-America Council serves 58 counties in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. The boys were attending special leadership training at the 1,800-acre camp.

Lloyd Roitstein, executive director of the Mid-America Council, said the Scouts were given an emergency drill on Tuesday, just one day before the tragedy. Roitstein said the Scouts "performed remarkably" after the disaster struck.

Panicked parents roamed up and down Interstate Highway 29 on Wednesday evening searching for their children at one of several hospitals between Omaha/Council Bluffs and Sioux City, where the victims were taken.

Some parents waited as long as six hours before learning the condition and location of their children.

Roitstein said a communications command post was set up Wednesday evening and a telephone number given for law enforcement so families could check the status of their children.

But he said because of the chaos, it took a long time to track all the campers and get in touch with families.

"We responded as fast as we could for those families," Roitstein said.

Photos: Boy Scouts recover
Photos: Little Sioux tornado aftermath


Gov. Chet Culver was the first of the state chief executives to arrive on the scene before daybreak Thursday. Fourteen Iowans now have died in tornadoes in the last three weeks in Parkersburg, New Hartford and now near Little Sioux.

Culver noted that 54 of Iowa's 99 counties are now under disaster declaration, primarily because of the spring floods that threaten much of the state.

He urged Iowans to monitor weather forecasts and reports "vigilantly," and to "take every opportunity to remain safe."

Officials said that more than 100 responders from at least 10 counties flocked to the campground site shortly after the tornado was reported. Their efforts were hampered by rain and debris.

Parents were gathered at the community center in Little Sioux to await word on the fate of their children. Some converged on the several hospitals where victims had been taken.

Others were reunited at a high school in nearby Mondamin, where Scouts with more minor injuries were taken in buses.

In the immediate aftermath of the tornado, some Scouts rendered first aid to their injured fellow campers.

An assistant Scoutmaster from South Sioux City, Jeff Calhoun, said communication after the tornado was "completely unorganized." He said the lack of information left parents tense and frustrated.

Possible lack of response time emerges
The lack of information and response time began to emerge as an issue Thursday morning. Jim Saunders, public spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said he wasn't called about the matter until 11 p.m. Wednesday.

"I can't explain the breakdown," Saunders said. "There are always after actions that need to be taken in events like these. All I can say is that we'll do better the next time."

Culver, Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer and Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt scheduled a tour of the camp site at sunrise. Saunders said Culver would join the other two governors at the tornado site after the 8 a.m. briefing.

The Iowa National Guard sent 30 Army Guard soldiers and 10 Air Guard members to Monona County to help respond, said Lt. Col. Gregory Hapgood Jr., the Guard’s public affairs officer.

The airmen are from the 18th Refueling Wing of Sioux City, while the soldiers are from the Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. The assistance also included portable airport lighting used by the Air Guard, he said.

"A wonderful area to study nature"
According to the Mid-American Council’s Web site, the Little Sioux Scout Reservation features miles of trails for hiking and backpacking. “It is a wonderful area to study nature,â€