At least a dozen people in Greenfield, a town of about 2,000, were injured, Sergeant Dinkla said.
The local hospital suffered damage during the storm, requiring people to be transferred to facilities in nearby towns.
“I've lived here all my life. I just pray that everyone is safe, that everyone is safe and that no one gets hurt,” Valerie Warrior, a Greenfield resident, told CBS affiliate KCCI TV in an interview as she stood near some of the demolished homes. “It was scary, very scary.”
Other video showed wrecked vehicles and heavy damage to a gas station in Greenfield, the county seat of Adair County, which along with neighboring Adams County appeared to bear the brunt of the Iowa storms in the southwestern corner of the state.