In eastern Iowa, three supercells, a type of thunderstorm with a persistent rotating updraft and a key factor in the creation of a tornado, formed across eastern Iowa and created 15 tornadoes 20 years ago on April 13. One of those tornadoes touched down in Iowa City.
That night, while in the delivery room at Iowa City’s Mercy Hospital, now the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center Downtown, waiting for the birth of their daughter, Brandy Dahl and Andy Dahl, the urban forestry supervisor at the University of Iowa, were told about a tornado that had touched down in their area of Iowa City, and they were in its path.
“During the tornado, the lights went off, and the sirens are going,” Andy Dahl said. “I asked the doctor if they did this for all the children, and they said, ‘No, there’s a tornado.’”…