Wind Towers Crumpled After Iowa Wind Farm Suffers Rare Direct Hit From Powerful Twister

By SEAN MURPHY (Associated Press) OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A wind farm in southwest Iowa suffered a direct hit from a powerful tornado that crumpled five of the massive, power-producing towers, including one that burst into flames. But experts say fortunately such incidents are rare. Video of the direct hit on the wind farm near Greenfield, Iowa, showed frightening images of the violent twister ripping through the countryside, uprooting trees, damaging buildings and sending dirt and debris high into the air. Several of the turbines at MidAmerican Energy Company’s Orient wind farm recorded wind speeds of more than 100 mph as the tornadoes approached just before the turbines were destroyed, the company said in a statement. “This was an unprecedented impact on our wind fleet, and we have operated wind farms since 2004,” MidAmerican said. While there have been isolated incidents of tornadoes or hurricanes damaging wind turbines, fortunately such occurrences are extremely rare, said Jason Ryan, a spokesperson for the American Clean Power Association. Although requirements vary from state to state about how far turbines must be located from other structures, Ryan said the giant turbines are not placed directly next to homes and other occupied structures. There are currently nearly 73,000 wind turbines in operation across the country, he said.