Greenfield Shows Its Strength

September is National Preparedness Month. Each year National Preparedness Month is recognized to promote family and community disaster and emergency planning. Each year FEMA puts out a themed campaign during National Preparedness Month to bring attention to the need to prepare for potential disasters.

Minden wasn’t the only Iowa town hard hit by the devastating winds of a tornado. A large multi-vortex tornado supercell swept through southwestern Iowa on May 21, 2024. Storm chasers raced to follow the storm as they knew this supercell was capable of producing sizeable tornadoes. They warned those they knew in the area of the impending storm. But there was no stopping the ferocity of Mother Nature, just the provision of time to take cover. The tornado spawned by this supercell bore down on Greenfield’s south side and ravaged the community without mercy.

Culture and Commerce in the Middle of Farm Country

First settled in 1854, Greenfield is home to 2,062 residents. It rests at the center of Adair County, just an hour’s drive from Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. As the county seat, Greenfield is home to the Adair County Courthouse and the Adair County Fairgrounds. It hosts an agriculture-based economy but also provides a diversified commerce base that provides goods and services for its residents and nearby farmers.

Greenfield also offers a good amount of culture as well. It is home to the Schildberg Antique Car Collection, Adair County Heritage Museum Complex, and the Iowa Aviation Museum.

Historic downtown Greenfield is set up in a unique Lancaster Square-style arrangement. This German-based concept brings the adjoining streets into the town’s square at the center of the block that makes up the square. In most other midwestern squares, the edges of the square are lined up with the adjoining grid of streets. But in Greenfield, the road that leads up to the square from the south is directly in line with the Adair County Courthouse, this grand old structure fills your view as you approach from blocks away.

The community joined Main Street Iowa in 1995 and has benefitted from the Main Street Approach, winning many awards over the years for their efforts.

Forever Changed in Minutes

While working at the Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG) I had been through Greenfield a few times as I drove all over the COG’s coverage area assisting communities. Although I didn’t see much change in the town during that span, I always viewed it as a nice, well-kept, quiet town that represented Adair County well. However, the supercell that swept through southern Iowa that day was about to change the lives of many. The storm tore through the towns of Villisca, Nodaway Brooks, and Corning before setting Greenfield in its sights. The tornado gained strength as it headed into town from the south, damaging or destroying everything in its path.

After the storm, the National Weather Service assigned the tornado a rating of mid-range EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. An estimated 200 homes had to be repaired or replaced. Several utility service connections had to be repaired. But beyond the overwhelming damage to homes and infrastructure, five people lost their lives and 35 others were injured that day. Greenfield was forever changed within a few short minutes.

Finding Strength after the Storm

After the tornado left to the north residents came outside to see the destruction. They had an insurmountable task before them to recover from the destruction that an EF4 tornado does to a town. But that’s where Greenfield’s strength rose to overcome the situation.

The Adair/Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency was also active on social media. Through one post they were able to provide links through QR codes to the Adair County Website, the Adair/Guthrie EMA Facebook page, as well as information on how to submit photos and videos of damage. Two other QR codes provided information on where to drop off physical donations and where to donate financially. It was a clean, eye-catching graphic that provided links to the information people needed immediately after the storm ended.

Then came Greenfield Strong, a fundraising campaign aimed to help those struggling to recover from the storm’s impact. The fund was arranged under the umbrella of the Greater Greenfield Community Foundation. It served as a central focal point for financial donations after the tornado.

Greenfield had been selected as a Meeting Town for the upcoming RAGBRAI LI in July. It was an event that many of the townspeople had been looking forward to. The devastation caused by the tornado left many to wonder if the Des Moines Register would move the day’s Meeting Town to another city along the route. Although the decision had yet to be made, it didn’t stop the Des Moines Register from posting information about Greenfield Strong on the RAGBRAI website and social media channels. The thousands of riders had access to provide financial assistance to help this potential stop along the route.

In Comes RAGBRAI

When the Route Inspection Team rolled through in early June there were comments that they didn’t know if Greenfield would be ready for the event in late June. Some thought it would take a miracle for the community to be ready to host cyclists as the Day 3 Meeting Town.

Greenfield, with the support from RAGBRAI®, will host riders in July following the deadly tornado in May.

For more: https://t.co/gWDdVUSjup pic.twitter.com/Ukl2UNzHJh

— RAGBRAI (@RAGBRAI_IOWA) June 11, 2024

But it was announced on June 11th that Greenfield would in fact host riders during RAGBRAI. To be ready for RAGBRAI two months after a tornado tore the community apart is mind-blowing.

Even if the townspeople were tattered and torn, you couldn’t tell. They met the riders and SAG crews with a smile and a friendly welcome. Thankfully, volunteers from all around came to help out as well. I talked to one volunteer who was helping with traffic management at the fairgrounds. She was from Des Moines and had come down to help out, knowing what the townspeople had gone through just a couple of months before.

One of the shuttle drivers had lost her home to the tornado, but that didn’t preclude her from putting forth a jovial attitude as she ferried people about for several hours. She was open to telling us how the Amish were helping her build their barn, where they would be residing while the house was rebuilt. To her side was a tip jar. But the tip jar wasn’t for her, the shuttle driver made that clear, it was for donations to help the community overall recover. This community had endured quite a bit, but they were still selfless and humble when it came down to it.

The Route Through Town Matters

One interesting tidbit was that the riders’ path through town came in from the west, but it turned south, before coming back north to the downtown square. I’m not sure if this was the original route or the route chosen after the tornado. However, the path through town took the riders through some of the hardest-hit areas.

This had a couple of positive consequences that intended or not, made it a good choice. Regardless of the route chosen through town, many riders were going to look for the tornado-damaged areas. It was just a given, it’s human nature to want to take a look at what happened to Greenfield that May. By putting these areas on the route, it kept many of the riders from diverging off the designated route and improved the overall safety of the riders as they passed through town. The other positive impact is that the riders were able to see the devastation first-hand. I’m sure the donations received through the various avenues available were aided by those whose heartstrings were pulled that day.

Continuing to Rebuild

Even though they’ve stopped selling the Greenfield Strong fundraiser t-shirts (I got mine!), the town’s rebuilding process continues with a long road ahead. But the townspeople of Greenfield have already proven they are determined and confident that they will rebound.

If you want to help their recovery efforts, go to RAGBRAI’s Greenfield Strong page. Just follow the link from there to the page to donate.