June 12, 2008 by Muir Scouter.

Follow-up from Reuters:

Boy Scouts among dead as tornadoes hit Midwest

 

By Kay Henderson

Tornadoes killed four people at a Boy Scout camp in Iowa and two others in Kansas as more than 30 twisters ripped through the U.S. Midwest, rescue officials said on Thursday.

Thomas White, a scout leader, said he was among a group who flung themselves to the ground as the tornado hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch at around dinner time on Wednesday.

“It just sucked the air right out of you,” the Eagle Scout told CNN. “It was unbelievable.”

Three of the dead were scouts and one was a youth staff member, said Lloyd Roitstein, head of the Boy Scouts of Mid-America Council.

Roitstein said the scouts had emergency and tornado drills the day before the twister hit.

“That day they were out there practicing first aid, saving their friends, saving other scouters, saving the life of our camp director, who was under his house,” Roitstein told reporters. “They did a tremendous job, they kept cool.”

Four Midwestern states were hit by tornadoes, some accompanied by baseball-sized hail. They compounded the damage from rampant flooding that has forced hundreds of people from their homes in Iowa.

In Kansas, one woman was found dead in her yard in Chapman and one man died outside a mobile home in Soldier, said state emergency management operations spokeswoman Sharon Watson.

The Kansas twisters injured dozens of people and destroyed at least 60 homes.

At the Boy Scout camp, more than 90 children and 25 adults were attending a “Pohuk Pride” weeklong training event, said Tina Potthoff, spokeswoman for the Iowa Emergency Operations Center.

Twenty to 40 people were injured, she said.

White, the Eagle Scout, said he ran to one of the cabins where others had taken shelter.

“It was complete chaos. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It was injured scouts and dead people,” he said on the CBS “Early Show.”

Roitstein said the shelters were not built to withstand tornado-force winds.

Iowa officials said the state National Guard was helping with the search and rescue effort in the wilderness where the camp is located. Heavy rain was forecast for Thursday in the area.

At least two tornado warnings were issued for Little Sioux before the twister struck.

“We are profoundly saddened,” said Iowa Gov. Chet Culver. ” Our heart goes out to all of the families and the children affected by this horrific tragedy.”

The tornado was one of more than 30 reported across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

(Additional reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by John O’Callaghan)

Be Prepared!

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