By Kay Henderson
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - A tornado roared through a BoyScout camp in Iowa and flattened a cabin where many campers hadsought shelter, killing four teen-aged boys and injuring dozensof others.
Close to 100 Boy Scouts scrambled for safety in shelters atthe Little Sioux Scout Ranch when the tornado hit on Wednesdayevening, one of more than 30 twisters that ripped across theU.S. Midwest into the night.
"We had no warning really at all," scout leader ThomasWhite said on Thursday morning. He said scouts were watchingthe clouds and the lightning storm when they saw a funnel formin the sky and began to run.
One cabin where scouts sought shelter was in the path ofthe tornado, and White said in television interviews that waswhere the boys died.
"It hit and all the doors flew open and it popped my ears,"Rob Logsdon, 15, said. "The walls and the porch and the roofjust disappeared. I got hit by a table in the back."
The boys killed at the camp were identified as two13-year-olds and one 14-year-old from nearby Omaha, Nebraska,along with a 13-year-old from Eagle Grove, Iowa.
At least two tornado warnings were issued for Little Siouxbefore the twister struck on Wednesday evening.
Hal Emas, 14, said 40 boys huddled in one shelter when asiren blared and the scout leader shouted "under the table!""Two seconds later, the walls blew out. It lasted for about 10seconds," he told the Des Moines Register.
Television images showed felled trees and debris strewnacross the devastated campsite.
TORNADO-FORCE WINDS
Boy Scout leader Lloyd Roitstein said the shelters were notbuilt to withstand tornado-force winds. He said the campersknew foul weather was on the way and tried to prepare.
But the tornado hit too fast.
Officials said 94 campers and 24 adults were at the campfor a weeklong training event. Forty-eight people were injured,including many who remained hospitalized.
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, who toured the site onThursday, described the scene as one of utter devastation. "Insome ways it is amazing we didn't lose more lives than we did,"he said.
Rescue efforts at the 1,800 acre (728-hectare) camp,nestled in wooded hills in western Iowa, were hampered bydowned trees, lightning strikes and heavy rain. Many of the BoyScouts, who had emergency training only a day before, quicklybegan helping one another.
"There were some real heroes," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said.
Accidents have befallen boy scout troops over the years,including two deadly lightning strikes in the summer of 2005,the same year four scout leaders were killed in Virginia infront of horrified boys when a tent pole touched a power line.
SEVERAL STATES HIT
More than 30 tornadoes were reported on Wednesday acrossKansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, some accompanied bybaseball-sized hail. The storms compounded the damage fromrampant flooding that has forced thousands of people from theirhomes in the Midwest.
In Kansas, twisters killed two people and injured dozens,with 60 houses destroyed, said state emergency managementoperations spokeswoman Sharon Watson.
One ripped apart part of Kansas State University's campus,with damage estimated to exceed $20 million, said Tom Rawson, avice president for administration and finance.
"The damage on campus is extensive," Rawson said. "Roofshave been damaged or torn off, windows have been blown out inmany buildings."
(Additional reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City;Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Storey)
