The tornado that swept through Greene County Dec. 15 has been rated as an EF2 tornado by the National Weather Service. According to the NWS, the storm path that did extreme damage to farmsteads and homes south and west of Jefferson was longer than 17 miles and included peak winds of 115-120 miles per hour.
The greatest impact of the tornado was in rural areas. More than 10 homes were damaged, but many more farm outbuildings received significant damage.
The outbuildings on the farm of Lindsey and Debra Larson south of Jefferson were leveled by the tornado. | Scranton Journal photo 
Utility poles south of Jefferson were felled in the storm. 
The Dec. 15 EF2 tornado left a jumbled mess at the Rev Charlie Thompson’s farmstead south of Jefferson.
Power transmission lines were torn down, causing widespread power outages. The Scranton and Paton community centers and Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson served as warming shelters and electronics charging locations during the outage. Power was restored to Alliant Energy customers in Jefferson Friday at 1:28 am, after being out for nearly 32 hours.
Gov. Kim Reynolds issued emergency proclamations for a total of 49 Iowa counties, including Greene, after Dec. 15 tornadic activity. The proclamation makes state emergency assistance funds available to households that meet income guidelines. See a related post on GreeneCountyNewsOnline for more information.
