(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says debris in Greenfield needs to be stabilized before volunteers will be able to enter the town to help residents recover from Tuesday’s tornado strike. The governor is hoping to have damage estimates completed by tomorrow (Thursday), so she can submit a request for a presidential disaster declaration that would trigger federal aid.

“We’re going to file for individual assistance again and public assistance,” Reynolds said. “The hospital was damaged and so we want to make sure that we’re providing resources for them as well.” The governor says four injured people were flown out of Greenfield on helicopters to area hospitals last (Tuesday) night, but she cannot confirm the number of people who were killed or injured.

“It’s still a search and rescue and we don’t want to give out any misinformation. That’s one of the reasons we’re keeping the site secure,” Reynolds said. “We wouldn’t want to give out a wrong number and we’re still assessing and there are properties in the country that have been impacted as well so we want to make sure we have an accurate count.” There’s a 10 a.m. to 7 a.m. curfew in Greenfield and people have to show proof they have a Greenfield address in order to enter the community.

John Cooper, Adair County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, says that’s an element of their coordinated search to confirm injuries and deaths in the community. “When we have this many homes that have been destroyed and just fully demolished, we want to make sure every person, every resident is accounted for,” Cooper says. “We’re going to continue doing that and then encountered for, so we’re going to continue doing that and then, once we have those numbers, we’ll send that information out.”

Photo of tornado damage in Greenfield by Melissa Ehrman Johnson

Reynolds spoke with reporters after visiting Greenfield this (Wednesday) morning and she said it appears the damage in Greenfield is worse than what she saw Minden, where 40 percent of homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado a month ago. “It’s just gut wrenching,” Reynolds says. “I was just in Minden…three and a half weeks ago and that was horrific and I think there’s even more debris and more impacted here. It is is horrific. It is hard to describe, until you can see it, the devastation.”

Reynolds is praising the work of meteorologists at the National Weather Service for advance notice of yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) dangerous conditions. “Letting individuals know when it would hit and where it would hit and they were almost spot on,” Reynolds says. “And I tell ya the other reason that was so important…we had a lot of kids still in school and based on the early, advance notice that we got, many of our schools let out early and it hit here (in Greenfield) at three and that would have been the time the kids were on a bus and headed home and it could have been devastating.”

Reynolds is also thanking Greenfield’s hospital staff for their response to the tornado after it damaged their facility. They established a make-shift triage center at Greenfield’s lumber yard to treat people who were injured and set up the transfers for people who needed treatment in a hospital. The state education director has issued a waiver, so the district’s school year is officially over.

The Nodaway Valley High School in Greenfield is serving as an emergency shelter and field hospital for anyone who might be injured during clean-up.