Damage Assessments

                      The damage assessments are 
                      under way in the
                      aftermath of Sunday's
                      deadly tornadoes.

                      Harrison County Iowa appears to be the hardest
                      hit.

                      That's where two people lost their lives, and 16
                      others were injured.

                      Officials took an aerial tour of the area Monday
                      to size up the destruction.

                      Heavy damage was evident east of highway 30
                      between Missouri Valley and Logan.

                      The storm flattened homes, tore down trees and
                      ripped off part of the roof from the Harrison
                      County Visitors Center.

                      And while the twisters are gone, the rain is causing more problems in the
                      Hawkeye state.

                      Governor Tom Vilsack has declared three flood-ravaged counties in
                      northeast Iowa state disaster areas. Those counties are Buchanan,
                      Clayton and Fayette.

                      A normally small creek is now a lake, flooding downtown and forcing some
                      30 families to evacuate. The creek started spilling over its bank last night,
                      and Black Hawk County officials started knocking on doors around five
                      o'clock this morning.

                      Storms have dumped more than eight inches of rain across parts of
                      northeast Iowa.

                      In Cedar Falls, officials rescued a woman who fell into the swollen Cedar
                      River last night, but otherwise, officials aren't reporting any injuries from the
                      flooding.

                      More rain fell Monday morning. The National Weather Service issued a
                      flash flood warning for Black Hawk County, where the rain was falling at
                      about an inch an hour.

                      In the Buchanan County town of Fairbank, a truck dealership and
                      restaurant were underwater, while in Fayette, the town was basically shut
                      down.

                      The Governor's disaster declaration provides state assistance for cleanup
                      and relief efforts and state officials are considering requests for help from
                      19 other counties, including Harrison Pottawattamie and Mills.

                      Vilsack and state disaster chief Ellen Gordon are surveying the damage in
                      western Iowa. Response teams from the Iowa Emergency Management
                      division are also being sent to west central and northeast Iowa.

                      And a train derailment is being added to the storm damage assessments.
                      Officials in Cedar County say high winds blew 14 or 15 empty railroad cars
                      off a westbound freight train late Sunday night near Lowden.

                      The accident happened about 11:00 p.m. on Union Pacific tracks that run
                      along U-S Highway 30. No one was hurt.

                      The derailment has shut down the tracks, but the highway is open.

 
©1999 Chronicle Broadcasting of Omaha, Inc.

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