DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A severe storm struck eastern Iowa on Friday, flattening homes in a small town and tossing cars on top of cars at a dealership.

The National Weather Service, which issued tornado warnings, could not immediately confirm that a tornado had touched down, but some area residents reported seeing a twister.

“All I can tell you it’s bad,” said Grandview Mayor Chuck Sorrowfree. “There’s some major damage to several houses, trees uprooted and knocked over and I mean big ones. It’s a mess.”

Dozens of homes in the town of about 600 near the Illinois line were damaged, and some were flattened, the mayor said.

Lucinda Robertson, a spokeswoman for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said injuries were reported in Grandview but that it was not immediately clear how many were hurt.

A search and rescue unit was trying to rescue someone reported trapped in a house in the area, she said.

Officials with the Louisa County sheriff’s office said everyone in Grandview was accounted for.

Although several injuries were reported, only one person was taken to a hospital, sheriff’s officials said.

Several homes were destroyed in nearby Fruitland and a house was on fire, Robertson said. Damage also was reported in Muscatine, about 10 miles north of Grandview.

Mark Husar, the general manager of a car dealership in Muscatine, said he saw a cloud of debris blowing in his direction and quickly moved employees and customers into a storm shelter.

“I’ve got 80 cars with windows blown out, two cars on top of cars, my roof is ripped off,” he said. “Applebee’s, which is about 50 yards away – their front window is blown out and I’ve got McDonald’s – they’re about one-and-a-half blocks away – in my lot. Their roof is partially torn off.”

Husar said the ordeal lasted about 15 seconds. Another car dealership across the street was untouched, he said.

Jim Meltzer, 64, of Muscatine, said he watched a tornado approach from the south of town.

“It started moving along the ground and we saw a large orange burst. It wasn’t lightning, so we figured it took out a transformer,” Meltzer said.

Muscatine is about 30 miles west of Davenport on the Mississippi River.

AP-ES-06-01-07 1629EDT