Tornado in Iowa, May 9, 1996

Strong thunderstorms fired as mentioned above in central Iowa. The main feature with the storms was the heavy rain. One of the storms became severe and produced a tornado near the town of Avery in Monroe County. It caused considerable damage. There were numerous reports of touchdown northeast of Albia. The tornado destroyed at least one trailer, several sheds, many large trees. It also damaged numerous houses, trailers, propane tanks, and fences. The tornado also damaged electrical wires cutting off electricity to most of the east half of the county, including Albia, for about 2 hours. There were two injuries reported with the tornado. They were relatively minor. A couple was in the trailer that was destroyed by the tornado. The wife was 8 months pregnant and gave birth the next day to a healty baby. It was fortunate that thought the trailer was destroyed, they both escaped with minor injuries. The actual path of the tornado was from a little northwest of Avery, tracking southeast for about 1 1/2 miles.