March 28, 2024

High winds blamed for trucker’s death during storms

TRIPOLI — Authorities say a trucker has been killed by one of the thunderstorms that raced across Iowa, leaving power outages and damaged buildings in their wake. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says 70-year-old truck driver James Budlong, of Dike, was killed Wednesday when high winds turned his tractor on a side, pinning him. The office also says a farmer was hurt when a building fell on him. Tripoli Police said a tree fell on a van full of children, but nobody was hurt.

The National Weather Service office in Davenport says it’s deploying survey teams to verify reports of short-lived tornadoes in the area. Another tornado was reported in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County.

MidAmerican Energy said Thursday morning that nearly 3,700 of its Iowa customers remained without power.