Frightened Boy Scouts huddled in a shelter as a tornado tore through their western Iowa campground, killing four people and injuring 48 others who had little warning of the approaching twister.
Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus.
In Iowa, rescue workers cut their way through downed branches and dug through debris amid rain and lightning Wednesday night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp. Authorities on Thursday praised some of the boys for helping to administer first aid and search for victims buried in their flattened campsite.
The tornado that struck a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa killed three 13-year-old scouts and one 14-year-old scout, said Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He did not release the names of the victims.
Roitstein said a tornado siren went off at the camp, but the scouts had already taken cover before the siren sounded.
The boys were split into two groups when the storm hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in the remote Loess Hills. One group managed to take shelter, while the other was out hiking.
At least 42 of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday morning, with everything from cuts and bruises to major head trauma, said Gene Meyer, Iowa's public safety commissioner. At least four of the injured had been airlifted from the camp, he said, refusing to elaborate on their conditions or identify the dead.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of the victims," Gov. Chet Culver said. "We continue to do everything we can to make sure those injured are going to recover."
All the scouts and staff were accounted for, Meyer said, adding that searchers were making another pass through the grounds to make sure no one else was injured. The camp was destroyed.
The twister struck at 6:35 p.m., about 3 1/4 hours after the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for a large portion of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.
The nearest tornado siren is in nearby Blencoe, but that siren sounded only briefly after the storm cut power to the town, said Russ Lawrenson of the Mondamin Fire Department.
"The tornado came in pretty fast, ahead of the storm," he said.
Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.
"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, `Dear God, save us,'" he told NBC's "Today" on Thursday." Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's (the tornado) gone."
The 1,800-acre (728-hectare) ranch about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Omaha includes hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range.
The tornado touched down as Iowa's eastern half grappled with flooding in several of its major cities. The storm threatened to stretch Iowa's emergency response teams even further.
Meanwhile, a line of tornadoes cut a diagonal swath across Kansas, causing widespread damage.
Authorities said one victim was found in a yard in the town of Chapman, and three people were critically injured and taken to a hospital in Junction City.
Electricity was out across town, and Homman said the search continued for other possible victims. "We're still going through methodically one residence at a time," he said.
The other Kansas victim was found outside a mobile home in the town of Soldier, Chapman said.
In Minnesota, a twister ripped a house from its foundation, leaving a bathtub protruding from a back wall near Fulda, 140 miles southwest of Minneapolis. A woman inside at the time suffered a knee injury.
Another struck a farm near Springfield, Minnesota, causing extensive damage to outbuildings, but no injuries to people or livestock.
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Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson in Des Moines, Iowa; Anna Jo Bratton in Onawa, Iowa; and John Hanna in Chapman, Kansas, contributed to this report.
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