Iowa City Residents Begin to Pick Up the Pieces

By Steve Nicoles, Iowa City Reporter

Tools

By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Apr 14, 2006 at 5:49 PM CDT

Story Updated: Apr 26, 2006 at 8:59 PM CDT

IOWA CITY - As the sun rose Friday morning, so did the clean-up efforts throughout Iowa City. Some parts of town have more work to do than others, in a neighborhood full of not just downed power lines, but power poles… no one gets off scott free.

Some homes fared better than others. Tyler Vanderlinden of Iowa City told KCRG-TV9 News, “I was actually pretty happy to see this considering a block away the whole house is torn down."

Not the whole house, but the third floor is gone. So is a side wall. It's enough to force the women of Alpha Chi Omega to find new homes for now. Elizabeth Bentley told KCRG-TV9 News, “It was like something out of a movie, it was so loud. We were downstairs and there was glass all over."

Two sorority members ran upstairs as the tornado approached. They didn't make it back to the basement. Danielle Kem told KCRG-TV9 News, “They got stuck on the second floor by the security doors, and then they were stuck there through the entire thing." The two women are still shaken up. As emotional as losing your home can be, none of them were hurt.

The same can't be said for the next door neighbors. The tornado injured two men living there. Dana Ries of Iowa City said, “One of the guys had to walk himself to the emergency room to get stitches and stuff."

Both men are okay, but that one neighborhood represents the entire city. Everyone is feeling the effects of the tornado differently, but everyone is definitely feeling the effects.

Conversation Guidelines

Be Kind

Don't use abusive, offensive, threatening, racist, vulgar or sexually-oriented language.
Don't attack someone personally. Keep it civil and be responsible.

Share Knowledge

Be truthful. Share what you know and what you are passionate about.
What more do you want to learn? Keep it simple.

Stay focused

Promote lively and healthy debate. Stay on topic. Ask questions and give feedback on the story's topic.

Report Trouble

Help us maintain a quality comment section by reporting comments that are offensive. If you see a comment that is offensive, or you feel violates our guidelines, simply click on the "x" to the far right of the comment to report it.


read the full guidelines here »

Commenting will be disabled on stories dealing with the following subject matter: Crime, sexual abuse, property fires, automobile accidents, Amber Alerts, Operation Quickfinds and suicides.

What's On KCRG