(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says more than 200 Iowa homes were destroyed by Tuesday’s tornadoes, including more than 150 in Greenfield.

Reynolds and the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency toured Greenfield this morning. “We can give them all the data, we can show them the destruction,” Reynolds said, “but to really be on the ground and see firsthand and to listen to the stories is really beneficial.”

Reynolds submitted a request to the White House this morning for federal disaster assistance for four counties, including Adair County, where Greenfield is located. “In Adair County alone we had 153 major destroyed homes,” Reynolds said. “Montgomery had eight, Polk County 26, Story County 15 — for a total of 202.”

That’s a tally of flattened homes. Reynolds told reporters there’s no count yet on damaged businesses. FEMA director Deanne Criswell, who joined Reynolds for a news conference in Greenfield, said the agency will process the governor’s request for federal disaster aid as quickly as possible.

“As much as I’ve been watching the videos and seeing the pictures of the tornado damage, it just does not do it justice when you’re here on the ground and you can see the homes gone,” Criswell said, “or you can talk to a member who lost their home and they share their story about how they just barely escaped death.”

Criswell thanked first responders for their life-saving actions on Tuesday and offered advice to storm victims.

“The best thing you can do right now is to take a lot of photos and document the damages to your home,” she said. “We want to be able to have that information both for your insurance company and if and when a disaster is declared here, we’ll have to have that information to process any other types of assistance that are out there.”

Power had been restored to about half of Greenfield by midday today, according to the governor.

“I was on the ground yesterday and I can’t even tell you the amount of debris that has been collected and hauled off,” Reynolds said. “In some of those streets, it looked like a different place.”

Reynolds said there are a few people using the emergency shelter in Greenfield’s high school, but most storm victims are staying with family or friends.