By: Vivienne Wellet

Central Iowa has had tornadoes in the past due to its location in the  Tornado Alley which includes  Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Central Iowa has had the worst tornadoes of any Tornado Alley state so far in 2022.

 In this region,  a giant tornado whipped through Des Moines, Iowa. It has caused the destruction of houses, roads, light posts, power lines, and many more. 

According to officials in Madison County and Des Moines, the tornado killed over seven people, including two children. Four other Adults were injured and were transferred to the Des Moines hospital; three of the victims had serious injuries and one of the victims were in critical life-treating situations. 

Meteorologists believed that the tornado was an EF-4 with winds up to 170mph. It was on the ground for at least for about 70 miles until it moved upwards. This left a world record since the 1984 tornado in Iowa left 177 miles of a carved track of where the tornado passed through. According to meteorologists, “there were going to be two EF-4 tornadoes 138mph but nothing is confirmed yet.” 

 The Bolgers were visiting their grandmother until devastation struck, a tornado, they all huddled together in the pantry basement scared for their lives. The tornado struck their home and the two children (5-year-old Kinlee Bolger and 2-year-old Owen Bolger), the father (37-year-old Micheal Bolger), and grandmother (63-year-old Melissa Bazley) all passed away. 

The mother (Kuri Bolger) survived but was in critical condition. Due to this, she set up a GoFundMe page to help her with her surgeries on her leg and arm to fix any major broken bones. The rest of the Bolger family were devastated to hear that their family members had passed.

Outside of the Bolger family, 72-year-old Cecilia Lloyd and 64-year-old Rodney Clark, who lived down the street from the Bolgers and 40-year-old Jesse Theron Fisher from Southeast Des Moines also passed away. A GoFundMe page has been set up from the family members of Kuri Bolger. It has raised over 500,000 dollars and hopefully Kuri Bolger will recover from the surgeries and the family that passed.  

Photo from National Weather service