Update

The tornado has been officially labeled an EF-5.

9 Dunkerton families lost their homes.

Parkersburg must have made more national news programs. Evening news with Charles Gibson said tonight that many people sent e-mails and said that they were touched by the story from yesterday. A family from Chicago ordered a bride-to-be a new dress for her wedding.

My student whose house is shown above managed to save her Euphonium. She is a senior next year and will go to UNI the following fall to study music.

We will not be making up the day of school we missed yesterday. In fact, we are squeezing projects and finals into the next two days in order to spend the last day and a half, June 2 and 3, with students cleaning up debris in the fields.

It was so sobering to talk to those who came to school today. They have been through a lot already, and they have so far yet to go.

TORNADO!

A few photos of the tornado destruction.

Several of my students lost their homes. The first three pictures are of one of them.

Parkersburg was the worst affected. The tornado was rated on the new scale as an EF3 which means winds of over 165 mph. Seven people lost their lives. Over 2oo homes were completely destroyed. Hundreds more significantly damaged. They say it is one of the worst tornados to hit Iowa. It made the Today show and was announced as a federal disaster area. The storm track was about 43 miles.

When I heard about the storm on Sunday afternoon, I was in Churdan spending time with friends. I called my friend Sherri to make sure she was okay. She is also a new teacher at Dunkerton. Her family is okay, and she said her home was spared by a block and a half. A teaching couple from Sentral, my fourth and sixth grade teacher, moved to Parkersburg after Fenton several years ago. Their home was destroyed. The high school is gone as well.

Parkersburg still has a curfew of 8:00 and all residents must be out of town each night. It will be a few more days before the power is on for the homes that are still intact. The national guard is expected to help with cleanup. It scares me to think what it must have been like to be there during the storm.

School in Dunkerton was cancelled for today. I called and put my name on a list to help volunteer. Parkersburg is such a mess that they are not yet to the point where they can accept large groups of volunteers. They have to sort through everything by hand in order to see what is salvageable.

There are videos and photos if you want to see more. KWWL.com has several news segments. The photos on here are from facebook groups.

Please keep the families in your thoughts and prayers. It will be a long cleanup and rebuilding process.

*** ALERT ***

As the school year draws to a close, I believe this to be pertinent information. P.S. I get more forwards working at school than I did when I was thirteen.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is called Weary Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss,any of your colleagues, or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. Take two good friends to the nearest store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system. You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life.