Chertoff: Iowa saw weather 'onslaught'

BLENCOE, Iowa, June 12 (UPI) -- Iowa saw an "onslaught of weather" when a deadly tornado, thunderstorms and flooding hit the state, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Mike Chertoff said.

Chertoff toured the devastated area, near the Iowa-Nebraska border, Thursday with Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, who called the storms and deaths "a blow right to the gut."

"A remarkable onslaught of weather ... descended on Iowa all at once," Chertoff said during a news conference in Blencoe, Iowa, near the Boy Scouts camp where four teens were killed when a tornado sliced through the area Wednesday.

The four scouts were "caught in a tornado that struck them like a bowling ball," Chertoff said, adding it seemed "they had no chance." The boys at the ranch were advanced scouts there for a week of training, said Lloyd Roitstein, president of the Mid-America Council of Boy Scouts of America.

Besides cleaning up after the tornado ripped through the 1,800-acre camp, Iowans also had to deal with flooding in eastern locales.

In Iowa City, the National Weather Service said the Iowa River would crest at 33 feet Tuesday, 11 feet above flood stage, The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette reported. Flooding in Des Moines, Waterloo and other areas prompted mandatory evacuation orders and sandbagging Wednesday, CNN reported.

The forecast prompted Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey to order another round of evacuations.

Possible tornadoes also touched down in northeastern Kansas, killing at least two people, injuring scores of others and damaging several buildings at Kansas State University.

More rain was predicted into early next week. AccuWeather.com. said storms could dump as much as 6 inches of rain in parts of Iowa and Minnesota.