Tornado Strikes Parkersburg, Iowa: Husband, Wife Race to Take Cover

Aug. 11, 2009— -- For Tom and Sue Teeple of Parkersburg, Iowa, May 25, 2008, was a day like any other -- until a massive tornado hit the small town of 1,900 in America's heartland.

Tom and Sue Teeple were fixtures in the community. Tom, 62, had been the local barber for 44 years at Tom's Barber Shop in downtown Parkerburg, where locals came for a haircut and good conversation. Sue worked right beside him, styling hair.

"Everybody knows Tom. They come to the barber shop to talk over the ball games, to just talk with the other farmers," Sue said.

Besides being a hair stylist, Sue was also known for her public battle with multiple sclerosis an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system and left her forced to use a walker.

On that day, the Teeples recall watching car races on TV and debating whether they should head to Dubuque County Speedway to see stock car races that night.

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"My husband and I are big race fans. We were going to go to the races in Dubuque. It was real dark, icky-like, outside. We decided to stay home, there was another race after that on TV," Sue said.

Tom soon noticed his neighbors gathering outside. When he walked out of his house, he said he saw the dark, ominous clouds approaching from the west.

"It was really, really crazy out. ... And kind of an icky looking gray," Tom said. "Nothing was moving the whole day and it was just like you were outside and sitting inside with a wool blanket over you. It was just that kind of gray. ... But little did I know that in ess than an hour and a half we'd have nothing."

Unbeknown to them, an EF5 tornado, the strongest and most dangerous type of tornado on the planet, had barreled toward Parkersburg.

Suddenly, Tom spotted it. Tom rushed inside to try to maneuver Sue safely into the basement. Though she is normally confined to a walker, in stressful situations Sue's multiple sclerosis makes her body tense up. Tom had difficulty moving her down the basement stairs to safety.

"When times get tough and there's some tension, she doesn't move," Tom said. "Unfortunately, it was that way this time, but we had two little steps leading down to our basement. And I got her down those two steps, but I couldn't get her any farther."