Four of the seven people killed in devastating storms that tore through central Iowa were members of the same family who had sought shelter inside a home that was razed by a powerful tornado, authorities said.

What You Need To Know

  • A powerful tornado swept through central Iowa on Saturday, killing at seven people, officials said

  • Four of the seven people were from the same family; Two children, their father and their grandmother all died when a tornado hit the grandmother’s home near rural Winterset on Saturday afternoon, an oficial said

  • Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Madison County, Iowa, late Saturday night

  • The tornado was rated an EF-3, with peak winds of 138 mph, by the National Weather Service

Two children, their father and their grandmother all died when a tornado hit the grandmother’s home near rural Winterset on Saturday afternoon, Madison County Sheriff Jason Barnes told television station KCCI.

The children and their parents, from Blue Springs, Missouri, were visiting their grandmother, Melissa Bazley, 63, when the tornado hit. The storm killed Bazley, 37-year-old Michael Bolger and two of his three young children.

A GoFundMe page for the family says Kuri Bolger, who is the children’s mother and Bazley’s daughter, was hospitalized after being seriously injured. Other members of the family who had sought shelter in the home’s pantry also were injured.

Two others killed in the tornado — Rodney Clark, 64, and Cecilia Lloyd, 72 — lived in homes just down the street from Bazley that were also hit by the tornado that was rated an EF-3, with peak winds of 138 mph, by the National Weather Service.

The seventh death came from Lucas County, about 54 miles southeast of Des Moines, when a separate tornado struck less than an hour later, injuring several other people. The state Department of Natural Resources said that person who died was in an RV at a campground at Red Haw State Park in Chariton, Iowa.

The storms that raked Iowa on Saturday were the deadliest to occur in the state since May 2008, when one tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in the northern Iowa city of Parkersburg. Another tornado a month later killed four boys at the Little Sioux Boy Scout ranch in western Iowa.

Saturday’s storms damaged or destroyed other homes and downed power lines and trees, causing some power outages.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Madison County late Saturday night.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the deadly storms that tore through our state today,” Gov. Reynolds said in a statement. “Kevin and I join with Iowans in prayer for those that lost their lives and those injured. Our hearts ache during this time, but I know Iowans will step up and come together to help in this time of need — they already are.” 

The National Weather Service in Des Moines tweeted later Saturday that initial photos and videos from the damage around the community of Winterset suggested it was at least an EF-3 tornado, capable of causing severe damage, on the Enhanced Fujita scale. It said weather service teams would investigate the damage Sunday and further assess a potential rating.

The tornadoes were followed by winter storms overnight Sunday into Monday that dropped about 5 inches of snow in central Iowa and 6.5 inches in Mount Vernon in eastern Iowa.

Elsewhere, the National Weather Service said the storms generated an EF-1 tornado in southeastern Wisconsin near Stoughton that included winds up to 80 mph. The storm flattened trees, snapped power poles and blew out windows in homes. No injuries were reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.