move from west to east.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION WAS
VITAL DURING AND AFTER THE JULY
TORNADOS. BUT THE RACOM BUILDING
THAT HOUSES THAT POLICE DISPATCH
EQUIPMENT IN MARSHALLTOWN - TOOK
A DIRECT HIT BY THE TORNADO!
KCCI'S LAURA TERRELL SHOWS US
THE DAMAGE. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY
YOU
CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE SPIN OF THE
TORNADO OFF ON THE LEFT HAND
SIDE OF THE VIDEO. IT GOES FRO
PEACEFUL TO
CHAOS JUST IN THOSE FEW MINUTES
OF TIME. This security camera -
captured the tornado as it
roared into Marshalltown.
As the sky darkens - winds
reaching 140 miles and hour send
debris flying through the air!
OUR BUILDING WAS DEAD IN THE
CENTER OF THE TORNADO WHEN IT
HIT!
Mike Miller is the President and
CEO of RACOM. The company
supplies radio communications
for 300 public safety agencies
in Iowa.
THE TREE DAMAGE IT GOES 100 OR
200 YARDS NORTH OF HERE...
Standing on the roof of the
Racom building - Miller shows
us the widespread damage still
visible 9 months after t
storm. YOU CAN STILL SEE
CONTRACTORS WORKING TODAY ON
PEOPLE'S HOMES. A LOT OF PEOPLE
WERE WALKING AROUND LIKE THEY
DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. JUST
LIKE STUNNED, YEAH. No one was
more stunned on July 19th - than
Miller himself. After Racom
took a direct hit from the
tornado. This cell phone video
taken shortly after - shows
walls blown out of the 5 story
building. I GOT OUT AND LOOKED
UP AND THE WHOLE BUILDING WAS
TORN APART AND I THOUGHT
SOMEBODY HAD TO DIE, AND OUR
BUSINESS IS GOING TO BE OVER.
Fortunately neither one of those
would come true. 12 employees
inside survived the storm - and
so did the most important
equipment! WHEN I WALKED UP IT
WAS JUST INSULATION EVERYWHERE!
NO CEILING ANYMORE. THINGS WER
TIPPED OVER, BUT THE KEY MOST
IMPORTANT SERVERS LIKE THOSE
OVER THERE IN THAT CORNER STOOD
JUST EXACTLY LIKE THAT.
Miller calls it a miracle - With
the servers still standing -
police and dispatchers still had
their lifeline of communication.
EVERY MARSHALLTOWN POLICE
OFFICER, MARSHALL COUNTY
SHERIFF'S DEPUTY - EVERY THEY
HIT TALK ON THE RADIO - IT'S
CONTROLLED FROM THIS BUILDING
AND SPECIFICALLY FROM THOSE
RACKS OF SERVERS RIGHT THERE.
Not only did RACOM keep the
servers up and running - But it
set up this temporary dispatch
center in its building: MARSHALL
COUNTY 911... Never heard before
audio recordings - give a
glimpse of the chaos that day -
as terrified Marshalltown
residents call 911. A TORNAD
TOUCHING DOWN ON TOP OF THE
VETERANS HOME! YES WE'RE AWARE!
GET INTO THE BASEMENT! THANK
YOU! MARSHALL COUNTY 911 - MY
MOM IS DRIVING HOME AND A TREE
FELL ON HER CAR - I THINK SHE IS
ON SUMMIT STREET
- I DON'T KNOW IF SHE IS OK This
is dash cam video of
Marshalltown police responding
to call after call. Without
radio communications - their
search and rescue would ha
been extremely difficult.
THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND
THAT LIVES WERE SAVED THAT DAY
BECAUSE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY RADI
STAYED UP AND ACTIVE THE WHOLE
TIME
I AM PROUD AS I CAN BE THAT WE
WERE ABLE TO PASS THAT TEST.
Nearly 9 months later - RACOM
still shows all the signs of
that terrifying day. Broken
glass ... And ripped off siding.
7 millions dollars in damage
that could take 9
more months to fix. WE'VE
DECIDED THAT WE'RE GOING TO
REBUILD IT NICER. MORE MODERN.
EVEN STRONGER.
One lasting sign of the storm's
strength is this bent metal flag
pole in the front of t
building. Miller is considering
leaving it that way as a
reminder - IT DID BEND
MARSHALLTOWN . IT DID HURT US A
LOT, YOU KNOW. WE HAVE YEARS OF
RECOVERY AHEAD OF US, BUT IT
DIDN'T BREAK US. THAT TORNADO
ALSO HIT MAJOR CENTRAL IOWA
MANUFACTURER VERMEER IN PELL
THE INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURA
EQUIPMENT MAKER HAS A LARGE
CAMPUS - AND THE STORM CAUSED
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. KCCI'S TODD
MAGEL IS THERE - WITH A LOOK A
HOW ITS DOING TODAY. nine months
after the tornado struck here in
Pella, it's hard to find any
signs of damage. In fact Vermeer
is almost back to normal July
19. 2018. This is the tornado as
it tears through the
Vermeer Corporation in Pella. In
just a few minutes, it sawed
through several buildings along
what's called Vermeer mile. From
the air and on the ground the
damage was overwhelming. Roofs
torn off, walls collapsed and
cars piled up like toys.
It was shocking to me to see the
damage
Jason Andringa is Vermeer's CEO.
When I came out of the shelter
in Plant 1and drove along the
back of the mile I will never
forget what I sa
Then it really got emotional
because you saw the place th
you love to come to work was
practically destroyed. Joel Neef
has been a Vermeer machining
specialist for 17 years. He
helps build some of the giant
farm and industrial equipment
here. He and his co workers
rushed to the re-enforced
concrete tornado shelters in
Plant 7 that afternoon. This one
is normally a lunch room, but
the doors have three deadbolts
and it's built to withstand an
e-f-5 tornado. You sta
thinking about family,
friends am I going to make it
out of here...
Neef and hundreds of other
worker did make it out. 7 were
injured. No one was killed. That
night an emotional Andringa
promised to rebuild his 71 year
old family company.
um, tears... So yeah, we
certainl
are going to rebuild and we are
going to come back stronger than
ever
Vermeer is back. Building
machines like this giant
horizontal driller.
What's going on in them
buildings right now is amazing
we're doing with five plants
what we used to do with seven.
And we're getting it done.
The progress we have made is
mindblowin
Here's another look at the
damage last summer from the
air... and here's what it looks
like now. The remaining factory
buildings are working at full
capacity. Vermeer is beginning
construction to replace the two
destroyed plants by next year.
Each one will have even stronger
storm shelters. The whole mental
image of it is seared in my
brain for ever and I'll probab
never get over the shock of
and also never get
over the pride of how we rallied
as a team and came back as we
did. the anniversary of the
