MULTIPLE people were killed when a tornado tore through a town in the US state of Iowa leaving a wide swath of obliterated homes, crumpled cars and splintered trees, while outside the small Iowa town, massive wind turbines were buckled and twisted to the ground by the howling winds.

After devastating the town of Greenfield’s 2,000 residents on Tuesday, the storms moved eastward to pummel parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, knocking out power to more than 130,000 customers in the two states.

Greenfield’s hospital was among the buildings that were damaged in the town, which meant that at least a dozen people who were hurt had to be taken to facilities elsewhere, according to Iowa state patrol Sergent Alex Dinkla.

“Sadly, we can confirm that there have been fatalities,” Mr Dinkla said at a news conference Tuesday night, without specifying how many. “We’re still counting at this time.”

He said he thought they had accounted for all of the town’s residents but that searches would continue if anyone was reported missing.

The Adair County Health System said in a Facebook post on Tuesday night that it had set up a triage centre at the Greenfield high school and that people who need medical attention should go there.

The tornado destroyed much of Greenfield, which is located about 55 miles south-west of Des Moines, during a day that saw multiple tornadoes, giant hail and heavy rain in several states.