Thursday marks one year since tornado outbreak devastates Iowa communities

RUDD, Iowa (KCRG) - Thursday marks one year since Iowa was hit with an unprecedented weather event, which brought 63 confirmed tornadoes across the state.

It was the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded.

Of those tornadoes, 21 were rated EF-2. Communities across Iowa sustained considerable damage.

The National Weather Service classified the storms as a serial derecho. It was the first ever derecho to happen in the U.S. in the month of December.

One person was killed in Benton County.

The town of Rudd sustained such widespread damage, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office closed the town to non-residents in the immediate aftermath.

The Rudd Public Library was damaged so severely it had to be torn down. Staff with the library shared images of the damage on the library’s Facebook page. They had to move into Rudd City Hall, but have since acquired new land to build a new library.

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