Roberts: Tornado aftermath ‘absolutely heartbreaking’

Chris Roberts calls Winterset his home, and he has for his entire life.

He works in Greenfield now, and he has nothing but gratitude and praise for those from all over the area who have dropped what they’re doing to go help his hometown in their time of need.

Saturday an EF-4 tornado, packing winds of 166 to 200 mph, destroyed homes and many other things in its path, in parts of the Madison County seat.

Roberts has worked at Adair County Health System since summer 2019, and he volunteers on the Greenfield Fire Department.

As soon as Adair County had its situation settled from the storm’s impact here, multiple emergency agencies from here packed up their gear and headed east to help Winterset.

The Greenfield Fire Department, Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management, Adair County Health System and the Adair County Sheriff’s Office all had personnel in Winterset helping with relief efforts much of the weekend.

Roberts said they brought themselves, tools and a “willingness to work, and that will never be forgotten.”

It was learned throughout the remainder of the weekend that there were six fatalities from that tornado — four adults and two children. An additional individual died in a tornado near Chariton.

“The damage and destruction over here is absolutely heartbreaking,” Roberts said. “At the top of the list is the loss of life and two pediatric patients losing their life. It’s very unimaginable. I’ve been a lifelong Winterset, and through it, we’ve seen the community come together.”

Roberts said he knew Winterset had a strong community, but when he says “the community came together,” he also means surrounding communities.

“I’m sure I’m not doing it justice for people over there who have offered our community support,” Roberts said in listing off the groups who have helped. “Even if it’s just prayers, that means a lot to us over here.”

At about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, trained weather spotters observed a tornado near Prescott. As the storm moved into the Adair County area, it remained tornado-warned, and spotters were activated around the county.

While the bulk of the storm traveled south of the Greenfield and Fontanelle area, there were various areas of rotation and a couple of funnel clouds spotted in more than one place in Adair County, Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf said. As a result, outdoor warning sirens were sounded in multiple communities.

Hail was particularly destructive to the Orient area. Countless rear windshields were blown out of vehicles. Orient firefighters estimated the hail to be anywhere from pea to baseball size. After it stopped hailing, the scene resembled a fresh snowfall, which the area experienced Monday morning.

Orient-Macksburg canceled classes Monday as officials surveyed hail damage to the school campus. Superintendent Dr. Bill Szakacs said there was damage to windows, the bus barn, three vehicles, there was water in the building, the greenhouse, and damage to the roof system.

“We have a lot of cleanup to do,” Szakacs said.

The tornado that hit Winterset is thought to have begun in a rural area east of Macksburg. The six people killed were identified as Melissa Bazley, 63; Rodney Clark, 64; Cecilia Lloyd, 72; Michael Bolger, 37; Kinlee Bolger, 5; and Owen Bolger, 2.

Roberts said the best way to reach out to help Madison County and Winterset residents is to go through the Madison County Area Chamber of Commerce. They may be reached by calling 515-462-1185.

Relief efforts were halted Monday due to the snowfall, however they will continue for days to come.

“We don’t want people to forget about the need to rebuild over here. I don’t think they will, but everybody’s very gung ho right now, we’ve just hit a little bit of a roadblock with the snow,” Roberts said. “There’s still work that needs to be done. The Chamber is still the best way to volunteer. It’s gotta be organized and it’s gotta be systematic, but that’s the best way to do that right now.”