A very said situation. One of the 4 little boys from the Boyscout camp trajedy is from my Wife's home town in Nebraska.
Article below about the storm.
June 12, 2008 03:02pm
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Four killed as tornado hits scout camp in US
Buildings and campsites have been destroyed
Residents flee homes as floodwaters rise
FOUR people have been killed and 40 hurt by a tornado that hit a Boy Scouts camp in the US today.
The tornado has destroyed buildings and ripped up the scouts' tents at the Little Sioux ranch in western Iowa.
See a picture of the damage at FoxNews.com.
The scouts, aged between 13 and 18, were attending a leadership camp.
CNN reported 93 scouts were believed to be at the camp when the tornado struck at 7.35pm local time (10.35am AEST).
"All of the buildings are gone; most of the tents are gone; most of the trees are destroyed," it quoted a scouts official as saying. "You've got 1800 acres of property that are destroyed right now."
Sheri Bauwens, a nurse with the American Red Cross, said many of the injuries happened when a brick fireplace in a cabin was ripped apart by the storm. The cabin was one of four where scouts had run for cover.
Injured campers were taken to five area hospitals as parents of campers gathered in a nearby church awaiting news and search and rescue teams continued to sift through debris at the camp.
A hospital spokesman told CNN that two children had been flown there by helicopter suffering "traumatic injuries".
Iowa officials said the state National Guard had been mobilised to assist in search and rescue operations, work that was complicated by the heavily treed area where the camp was located and continued lightning strikes and heavy rain.
The tornado was one of more than 30 reported to be moving across eastern Kansas into Nebraska, Iowa and into Minnesota.
The tornadoes were accompanied by baseball-sized hail and vicious winds, and came in addition to rampant flooding that has forced hundreds from their homes in Iowa.
Storms
Tens of thousands of people were without power in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois since violent weekend storms dumped rain and spawned tornadoes.
In the Iowan capital Des Moines, some residents are fleeing their homes as floodwaters keep rising after heavy rains, but others are choosing to stay and fight.
"I'm not going to leave my place unless the water runs me clear out," one resident said.
Water has burst from storm sewers and flooded restaurants and a government building in the business district. Water released from a reservoir is expected to swell the Des Moines River that bisects the city.
Northeast of Des Moines, the Cedar River swamped parts of Waterloo and Waverly, and prompted an all-night vigil in the city of Cedar Falls where sandbagging continued in earnest.
Many people staying in motels had seen their homes destroyed in a deadly May 25 tornado that levelled nearby districts.
Authorities went door-to-door in downtown Cedar Rapids, downstream on the Cedar River, to tell people to leave. The small towns of Palo and Chelsea were evacuated.
Dams across the Midwest were being monitored.
RSC
