Community Comes Together After Tornado Devastates Keokuk County

KEOKUK COUNTY – A horrid storm tore through Eastern Iowa the evening of Mar. 31, with 12 counties being placed under a Disaster Proclamation. Residents in Keota, Hedrick, Harper, Martinsburg and Ollie faced ​​136 mph winds and an EF4 tornado. Preliminary reports state that 19 homes in Keokuk County were destroyed, with another ten sustaining major damage, and an additional five destroyed in Washington County. Fortunately, no one in Keokuk County was seriously injured by the storm.

“I’m just in shock about this,” said Annie Millikin, a Hedrick woman whose home was turned to rubble by the storm. “We’re very blessed to have all made it out okay. If we hadn’t stayed at the school, me and my girls wouldn’t be here today.”

The Millikin house, where Annie lived with her husband and two young daughters, was built in 1902. A check belonging to Annie, delivered to her mailbox, was found in Cedar Rapids after the storm.

“We’re finding random things, sentimental things, all the time,” said Millikin, after seeing a baby doll be pulled out of the pile of wood. “We have great help. We’re blessed with great support. It makes a big difference”

When Millikin spoke with the News-Review on the morning after the storm, a dozen-man-strong crew of friends and family were in the process of helping her sift through what remained of her family home. A similar sight could be found at the home of Jon Roop, whose house outside Ollie was also destroyed. Roop and his roommate, Judy Deitrich, hid from the storm in their basement. By the time the storm ended, his home was gone.

“I was out in the field and came in. Judy said there were storm warnings and we’d go to the basement,” said Roop. “She went back into the house for the cat, but couldn’t find it. We just barely got in the basement before it hit. We never did see a funnel cloud. Just a big black cloud…We could hear it. We knew what it was. No doubt. It had a scream to it when it hit us. We got behind a wall that was in the direction the storm was coming. The furnace that was on the other side of us was lifted out with the house. We didn’t even realize it was gone. But I knew when the wall came loose, because I could feel it shaking. I was leaning against it.”

The wall Roop and Deitrich hid behind could be seen from outside, half knocked over by the storm. Fortunately, neither were injured by the storm. Their cat was found, alive, in a pile of rubble the following morning.

Other families who lost homes or farm buildings in the storm include Brandon and Jessica Berg, Chris and Kari Berg, Grant and Morgan Dickey, Keaton and Jaclyn Greiner, Jim Sterling, Andrew and Jamie VanDeHaar, Greg and Marianne Millikin, Clarence and Nancy Sanders, Nate and Sharon Fritchen, Jenny Chaseys, Dennis Heisdorfer, Josy Sieren, and Steve and Stacie Sieren, and likely others.

“I saw it coming up. I had a really good view of it. It just kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Marianne Millikin. “My husband was watching the TV and heard on TV that it had just crossed 78. I said we need to get down to the basement. Right before we left, I opened the entry door and you could just hear the roar and see debris flying in the air.”

Marianne sheltered from the storm with her husband, son, daughter, several grandchildren, her nephew, and a friend of his. “First thing, our ears all popped,” said Marianne. “And then all of a sudden you just heard the bang clash noise that’s coming down through the rafters. Within 20 seconds, it was over. Someone asked, ‘is it over?’ And Greg said ‘yep, it’s over. That’s all there is to it.’ My son Cameron, he went up the stairs from the basement and opened up the door and said ‘it’s gone. We have nothing left here.’”

“It came fast. It came really fast,” said Sesali Sieren, who waited out the storm in Steve Sieren’s basement. “It just sounded like a giant freight train. And you could hear the whole roof just go. We really thought the whole house was gone based on how it sounded. We were lucky that it wasn’t; it was just the back half.”

“I think I’m still in shock because I haven’t shed a tear yet,” said Glenda Sieren, whose family home was severely damaged by the storm. “When I heard the alarm I looked out and actually saw it a ways off. I grabbed my two cats, went to the basement, and locked them in one room. I was going to stay there, but I just didn’t feel good...I looked up again to try and gauge where (the tornado) was and what it was doing. I could tell it was coming straight at me. Something just told me to grab my purse, get in my car, and just get out of here.”

“The only thing that’ll be left is the well and a slab of concrete when they get it cleaned up,” Glenda continued. “This is where I grew up. My mom and dad built this house. This is our heritage. Our family farm. It’s always been the hub of everything. My boys are farming all the land my dad had. I don’t know about rebuilding. I just don’t know.”

In addition to the damage to her house, Glenda lost three cows, a calf, and one of her cows. “I should have just grabbed (the cats) and got in the car in the first place. But your first thought is go to the basement, you know?” Glenda said. “When I was a kid, they always told us to go to the Southwest corner, because everything usually comes from that way. A wall fell over there. I would have been smashed by the wall.”

Kari Berg and her husband Chris lost most of their farm during the storm. In addition, Chris’s brother Brandon and his family lost their home. “It is starting basically from the beginning,” said Kari. “There’s nothing. We need to completely rebuild practically everything that was over there and it was a lot…But we can do that. Things can be rebuilt. We’re just so thankful that we were all safe.”

Much of the county was left without power, as the fierce winds tore down electrical poles. Thanks to tireless work from electrical workers, the power was restored throughout most of the county by Sunday afternoon.

An outpouring of support came from across the county in the days following the storm. Hundreds of friends, family members, neighbors, and even complete strangers came from across the county to help victims of the storm. The Sigourney-Keota football team spent Sunday cleaning up the debris. Keota 7-12 graders helped clean up on Monday. Pekin students spent all day Monday helping clean up damaged farms. The William Penn football team helped out on Saturday. 80 students from Oskaloosa Community Schools helped clean up Farson and farms in Southern Keokuk County.

The City of Hedrick is currently accepting donations of food and supplies at the town community center. Pekin High School plans to hold a potluck on Apr. 5 to raise money for those affected. Boutique shop Feathered Farmhouse is taking in money to pass onto victims. Fiddle Dee Dee is accepting clothes and gift cards to donate. Kountry Korner donated 10% of sales proceeds from Monday night towards Keota disaster relief. Brothers Market served dinner to the linemen working to repair power lines. Grant Ranch served lunch for linemen the following day.

“Saturday, we had an abundance of people show up,” said Marianne Millikin. People we didn't even know. Community people. My son’s friends and people from William Penn came. He said he’d seen them once or twice and that’s all, but they showed up with help…We probably had 125 people here on Saturday to help clean up.”

“How wonderful this community we’ve got,” said farmer Andrew VanDeHaar. “Within minutes, this place was covered in people who wanted to help. It’s just amazing…Just amazing the community we’ve had and the random that showed up out of nowhere to help us with everything. Just all sorts of support.”

Regarding the hogs at the Sterling-VanDeHaar farm, VanDeHaar said “We didn’t lose hardly any. A lot of pigs came out of here. I mean, almost all of them. We had 9500 pigs here. We about took them all out. They were alive and were in good barns that night. The Lord is with us and watching over us. He really saved a lot of lives. It’s amazing what we had happen and the community support we’ve had.”

“We feel like this situation has brought us all closer as a family. It's just been so moving. We’re so thankful for this community and what they’re doing and continue to do,” said Kari Berg. “It’s been amazing how everybody has pulled together. It just makes you realize how wonderful it is to live in this community, in a small town, and be part of something great.”