Officials: 7 dead after tornadoes tore through central Iowa

A utility worker tends to a downed stoplight on Highway 69 in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, March 5, 2022, after a strong storm caused damage in areas of central Iowa. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register via AP) DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Seven people were killed, including two children, when several tornadoes swept through central Iowa, damaging buildings and knocking down trees and power lines, authorities said.Emergency management officials in Madison County said four were injured and six people were killed Saturday when one tornado touched down in the area southwest of Des Moines near the town of Winterset around 4:30 p.m.

Among those killed were two children under the age of five and four adults.In Lucas County, about 54 miles (87 kilometers) southeast of Des Moines, officials confirmed one death and multiple reported injuries when a separate tornado struck less than an hour later.Thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes moved through much of Iowa from the afternoon until Saturday night with storms also causing damage in the Des Moines suburb of Norwalk, areas just east of Des Moines and other areas of eastern Iowa.Officials reported a number of homes were damaged, roads were blocked by downed lines and tree branches were shredded by the strong winds.

At one point, power outages affected about 10,000 in the Des Moines area.The storms are the worst to occur in Iowa since 2008 when one tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in the northern Iowa city of Parkersburg in May, and another storm a month later killed four boys at the Little Sioux Boy Scout ranch in western Iowa.The National Weather Service in Des Moines tweeted early Sunday that there were at least three thunderstorms producing tornadoes,.