{"id":"3","article_title":"Twisters sweep across nation's midsection, killing eight","category_id":"1","article_date":"2012-10-23","article_summary":"Tornadoes swept through the Midwest on Sunday, killing seven people in \r\nIowa and a toddler in Minnesota.A tornado touched down in the \r\nnorth-central Iowa town<br>","article_content":"<img title=\"Image: http:\/\/www.myvivvo.com\/thumbnail.php?file=art.tornado.horse.ap_277419324.jpg&amp;size=article_medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myvivvo.com\/thumbnail.php?file=art.tornado.horse.ap_277419324.jpg&amp;size=article_medium\" alt=\"Twisters sweep across nations midsection killing eight\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n                                \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Tornadoes swept through the Midwest on Sunday, killing seven people in Iowa and a toddler in Minnesota.<br><br>A\r\n tornado touched down in the north-central Iowa town of Parkersburg at \r\nabout 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET), killing five before moving 10 miles east to \r\nNew Hartford, where two others died in the storm, said Troy Price, a \r\nspokesman for Gov. Chet Culver.<br><br>Spotters also reported a tornado \r\nnear Dunkerton -- about 40 miles east of Parkersburg -- that they said \r\ncaused considerable damage and flung debris as the storm moved at 23 \r\nmiles per hour. Marble-sized hail fell over Waterloo, where authorities \r\nreported significant damage to homes, trees and power lines.<br><br>\"Early\r\n reports indicate that these communities have suffered severe and \r\nwidespread damage, and I plan to visit the region very soon to offer my \r\nsupport to those affected,\" Culver said in a prepared statement. He \r\ndeclared disaster areas in three counties.<br><br>Meanwhile, a Minnesota\r\n twister killed a 2-year-old child and seriously injured nine other \r\npeople -- including another child -- in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.<br><br>The\r\n tornado struck Hugo, about 25 miles north of the Twin Cities, \r\ndestroying 50 homes and damaging another 150, city manager Mike Ericson \r\ntold CNN.<br><br>The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado in \r\nHugo that touched down just after 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET), and \r\nauthorities reported twisters in nearby Coon Rapids and Blain.<br><br>Video\r\n from the scene showed chairs, televisions, shingles and other debris \r\ntossed into the streets of the 11,500-population Hugo. Nickel-sized hail\r\n and larger pelted the suburb.<br><br>Sgt. Rick Boone of the Coon Rapids\r\n Police Department said a twister cut through the middle of town, \r\ndowning trees and causing minor damage to several homes. No fatalities \r\nor injuries were immediately reported.<br><br>Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty planned to meet with local authorities Monday afternoon and tour the affected areas.<br><br>Earlier\r\n in the day, authorities in Moore County, Texas, reported sightings of \r\nthree twisters, though details were not immediately available.<br><br>On\r\n Saturday, tornadoes formed over northern Oklahoma, skipping across the \r\nrural landscape and severely damaging a hog farm about an hour northwest\r\n of Oklahoma City. There were no reports of injuries, officials said.<br><br>However,\r\n two people were found dead in south-central Kansas on Saturday in a car\r\n accident that authorities said was caused by a tornado.<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><br>","created_by":null,"created":null,"modified_by":null,"modified":null}