Wind turbine damage from powerful tornado 'unprecedented'

DES MOINES, Iowa (KGAN) — Some of the most viral footage from Tuesday's tornado outbreak, was of several wind turbines in southwest Iowa being toppled by a powerful tornado. The day after, the energy company, MidAmerican, responded to the damage, calling it the worst damage their system has suffered in 20 years of operating wind turbines.

MidAmerican Energy Company services almost two-thirds of Iowa, according to its website.Its territory is wholly encompassed by the territory of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

"We're thankful no one in the area was injured by the turbine collapses. Our thoughts are with those in nearby Greenfield who lost their lives, as well as the many others who were hurt or lost their homes due to the same severe storm outbreak." Said Tina Hoffman from MidAmerican.

The company says six turbines collapsed in the storms, most in the Orient Wind Farm. Several turbines registered winds over 100 mph before sensors stopped communicating.

Footage from storm chasers showed some of the turbines collapsing from a direct strike by the tornado that also hit Greenfield. The video shows turbines being tossed high into the air, circling the tornado before crashing to the ground.

Wind turbines are designed and engineered to withstand powerful winds from a tornado or severe thunderstorm, but this was far from your usual storm. "Few structures can withstand a direct hit by a powerful tornado such as what we experienced on Tuesday." Hoffman said.

"This was an unprecedented impact on our wind fleet, and we have operated wind farms since 2004," MidAmerican told the Associated Press.

MidAmerican is now inspecting all of its wind facilities impacted by severe weather before resuming operations. They have already been in touch with manufacturers to work on replacing the lost turbines.

While there have been isolated incidents of tornadoes or hurricanes damaging wind turbines, fortunately such occurrences are extremely rare, Jason Ryan, a spokesperson for the American Clean Power Association told the AP.

Editor's Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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