They were found together in the pantry in a house that had been razed by the powerful tornado.
A tornado struck the grandparents’ house in rural Winterset, killing two children and their father. The children’s grandmother, their 8-year old brother, grandfather, and uncle were all able to escape the tornado, according to family members. However, they sustained injuries.
When the tornado struck, Melissa Bazley (63), and her children were visiting Melissa, their grandmother from Blue Springs, Missouri. Bazley, 37 year-old Michael Bolger, and two of his young children, Kinlee Bolger, 5 years old, and Owen Bolger, 2 years, were killed in the tornado.
The family’s mother, Kuri Bolger (Bazley’s daughter) was seriously injured and needed to be admitted after a GoFundMe page was created. Lynn Larson reported that Kuri Bolger, her daughter-in law, had surgery on Monday to her leg and will need another operation on her arm to fix broken bones. Her oldest grandson was discharged from the hospital.
Larson stated that Larson and her family were “just devastated.”
“I can’t even describe Mike’s kindness. Larson stated that everyone loved Mike. It just tears your heart out. My grandchildren were wonderful. They were the light in my life.
Rodney Clark (64), and Cecilia Lloyd (72) were killed in the tornado. They lived in houses just down the street from Bazley, which were also affected by the tornado. The National Weather Service reported Monday that the tornado was rated an EF-4 with peak winds of 170 mph (274 kph). The tornado lasted nearly 70 miles (113 km), marking the longest path of destruction since the 1984 tornado, which carved a path of 117 miles (181 kilometers).
Lucas County was the location of the seventh death. It is located 54 miles (87 km) southeast Des Moines. A separate tornado struck just over an hour later and injures several others. Officials from the county said Monday that Jesse Theron Fisher (40) of Chariton in Iowa died in the storm. Another resident was still being treated. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, Fisher was in an RV at Red Haw State Park near Chariton at the time of the storm.
The most severe storms to hit Iowa since May 2008 when one tornado decimated nearly 300 homes and nine people were killed in Parkersburg, northern Iowa, were the storms that devastated the state on Saturday. A tornado that struck western Iowa a month later claimed the lives of four boys.
Saturday’s storms caused power outages and damaged many homes.
Winter storms erupted overnight, dropping snow about 5 inches (12.7 cm) in central Iowa and Mount Vernon (16.5 cm) in eastern Iowa.
Officials had to cancel Monday’s storm cleanup effort after hundreds of volunteers worked on Sunday. Although the cleanup is expected to resume Tuesday, more snow is forecast for Thursday, which could lead to additional delays.
On Monday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for nine additional counties that suffered storm damage. This will allow the state to use its resources to assist in recovery efforts in Adair and Benton counties, Decatur, Jaspers, Lucas, Jaspers, Lucas, Lucas, Tama, Warren, Wayne, and Jasper. Madison County was already declared a disaster by Reynolds, who is best known for her movie and book “Bridges of Madison County”.
The National Weather Service reported that the storms produced an EF-1 tornado in southeastern Wisconsin, near Stoughton. It was capable of producing winds up to 80 mph. The storm ripped power poles, flattened trees and blew out windows. There were no injuries.
According to one expert, the storms that hit Saturday caused $1 billion in damage.
