U.S. & World News

BLENCOE, Iowa (CBS) ― Boy Scouts who came to the aid of their colleagues after a tornado that killed four of their comrades and injured 48 people were hailed as heroes Thursday for helping to administer first aid and search for victims buried in their flattened campsite.

Iowa rescue workers cut through downed branches and dug through debris amid rain and lightning Wednesday night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, had huddled for safety through the twister. They and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp.

Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, reminded reporters at a news conference Thursday that the Boy Scouts motto is "Be Prepared."

"Last night, the agencies and the scouts were prepared," he said. "They knew what to do, they knew where to go, and they prepared well."

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver praised the boys for "taking care of each other."

"There were a lot of young heros up at that scout camp," Culver told CBS News anchor Russ Mitchell. "They set up their own mini triage unit before professional medical assistance could get there. So without those young men who were trained in medical assistance, we could have had a lot more loss of life and I'm very proud of those young men."

Boy Scout officials identified the dead at the Iowa camp as Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa and Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 14, all of Omaha.

Beth Trejo was with the American Red Cross team that responded with mental health support for the scouts and their families.

"Their stories were just remarkable; they were so heroic and so strong," she told
The Early Show. "Some of the boys even told stories of holding the other boys down or rescuing them from the rubble and things that had been knocked down. Just things that are probably not typical for an average 13 to 17-year-old."

A tornado siren went off at the camp, but the scouts had already taken cover before the siren sounded. There was no time to remove them from the isolated retreat, he said.

The boys were split in two groups when the storm hit - one batch managed to take shelter, while the other group was out hiking.

At least 42 of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday morning, with everything from cuts and bruises to major head trauma, said Gene Meyer, Iowa's public safety commissioner. At least four of the injured had been airlifted from the camp, but Meyer refused to elaborate on their conditions or identify the dead.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of the victims," said Gov. Culver. "We continue to do everything we can to make sure those injured are going to recover."

All the scouts and staff were accounted for, Meyer said, adding that searchers were making another pass through the grounds to make sure no one else was injured. The camp was completely destroyed.

"We need daylight to help us complete that search and rescue mission," said Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt.

The tornado formed about 6:35 p.m. and hit just hours after the scouts conducted an emergency preparedness drill at the camp.

Thomas White, an 18-year-old member of the camp staff, told CBS News' The Early Show the only warning they had of the twister was when he and others saw the funnel cloud forming.

"We had no warning really at all," White said. "Just when we were out watching the clouds, we were out just kind of admiring the lightning. Then all of a sudden we see some rotation in the sky and we ran in instantly and we got the horn, the siren, going so that we could get the scouts out."

White and the scouts with him were not even able to reach shelter, before the tornado struck.

"We were running towards the shelter and all of a sudden the wind just picked up so much it just sucked all the air out of my lungs and the two other people I was with, the same thing happened. So we just jumped on the side of the road," White told The Early Show. "And it wasn't even a ditch. I mean, it was just on the side of the road. So yeah, we just got there, we laid down. And within, who knows, 30 seconds, it was over."

White added that, "It was complete chaos. It was the worst thing I've ever seen. It was just injured scouts and people and dead people and it was, it was chaos, it was horrible."

One of the injured scouts was 15-year-old Rob Logsdon, who crowded into the administrative building with most of the other campers minutes before disaster struck.

Speaking to CBS affiliate KMTV at the hospital, Logsdon described being hit by a table that was blown across the room by the twister. He was left with a cut in his knee that required stitches, a dislocated hip and a twisted ankle. "I'm OK... Still pretty sore, disoriented."

What may take longer to heal are the mental scars of witnessing the effects of the tornado on his fellow campers.

Logsdon said that after the storm had passed he saw one smaller scout buried under a pile of bricks, laying still and covered in blood. "He didn't look like he was doing well at all. He wasn't screaming or anything." Logsdon believes the boy was likely one of the four people killed.

The ranch, about 40 miles north of Omaha, Neb., includes hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range.

"All of the buildings are gone; most of the tents are gone; most of the trees are destroyed," Lloyd Roitstein, president of the Boy Scouts of Mid-America Council, told CNN. "You've got 1,800 acres of property that are destroyed right now."

Workers initially had difficulty reaching those injured because of downed and twisted trees and other debris.

"There had to be sawing and stuff to get to the scene," Lawrenson said.

Rescuers called off the search late Wednesday after determining that everyone was accounted for.

Rick Emas of Omaha said he learned of the tornado when his 14-year-old son, Hal, called to say he was OK and needed a ride home. When they arrived hours later at Alegent Health Clinic in Missouri Valley, Iowa, their son was "so deeply dirty. He had grit blown right into his scalp. He was wet and cold."

As the storm hit, Hal ducked under a picnic bench in an outdoor eating area, grasping onto table legs that were bolted into the ground.

"The walls of the area had all blown out," Emas said. "We're very fortunate he's not hurt."

Taylor Willoughby, a 13-year-old from Bellevue, Neb., said he and several others were in a building preparing to watch a movie when someone screamed that a tornado was coming. They hunkered down in the building as windows shattered.

He said he and other boys tried to patch each other up with bandages and gauze as they waited for rescuers, but "there wasn't much to work with."

Taylor, at left with his father, was treated at Burgess Health Center in Onawa, Iowa, for a bruised back.

In addition to Burgess and Alegent, victims also were taken to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

Burgess spokeswoman Beth Frangedakis said 19 victims were the first to arrive at the hospital about 8:30 p.m. Their ages ranged from 2 months to 15 years, plus three adults.

Frangedakis said four were admitted to the hospital, one was taken by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and the others were released.

The 1,800 acre ranch is about 15 minutes east of Interstate 29, about 40 miles north of Omaha, Neb. Its amenities include hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range.

The tornado touched down as Iowa's eastern half grappled with flooding in several of its major cities. The storm threatened to stretch Iowa's emergency response teams even further.

Tack said officials were confident that the state's emergency response teams could handle the crisis because western Iowa had been largely unaffected by the recent flooding.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)