The National Weather Services’ updated assessment of Friday night’s tornado east of Monroe states it was wider, and was on the ground longer than initially thought. The Weather Services preliminary report had the twister on the ground for 4 minutes covering 2.23 miles with a maximum width at 50 yards. Now…the National Weather Service says it traveled 4.13 miles from 9:42 p.m. to 9:50 p.m., with a maximum width of 80 yards. The tornado’s peak winds of 105 mph and rating of EF-1 are unchanged. It was one of at least 17 tornadoes that came out of Friday night’s severe weather. Multi National Weather Service teams are evaluating the damage. Josh Murray, Communications Director for the American Red Cross Nebraska-Iowa Region, says there was a tremendous amount of damage in multiple counties.
If you would like to help with the relief effort, Murray says donations can accomplish a lot.
If you would like to be more hands on with your help, Murray says you may be able to do that as well.
The American Red Cross’ big white vans known as Emergency Response Vehicles have all been deployed to various tornado sites.