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Photo of Greenfield, Iowa friends found near Minnesota border after tornado

A 2008 photo of Morgan Newman sat in the basement of her mother's Greenfield home for years. But when a tornado tore through town, that photo took flight.

GREENFIELD, Iowa — A 2008 photo of Greenfield native Morgan Newman sat in her mother's home for years. But that photo of Newman and her inseparable college friend, Erica, found a new home this week when an EF-4 tornado crushed Newman's mother's home.

That home? Near the Minnesota border. McIntire, Iowa, in fact, about 175 miles northeast of Greenfield.

Sydney Patterson, who lives in McIntire, noticed something white fall from the sky, and went to pick it up.

"I happened to look out my son's window, and something flew out of the air," Newman told ABC affiliate KAAL. "Kind of like 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'."

The photo Patterson picked up of Newman and her friend Erica then was posted to social media, including by Local 5 meteorologist Chris Kuball, and Iowans began sharing.

Absolutely insane! What a powerful tornado! This photograph is was found in Sydney Patterson’s yard in McIntire, Iowa...

Posted by Chris Kuball Meteorologist on Wednesday, May 22, 2024

RELATED: National Weather Service upgrades Greenfield storm rating, Iowa now up to 8 confirmed tornadoes

Someone tagged Newman on the post, reached out to Kuball and then got connected to Patterson. 

"It was pretty crazy," Newman said. "I never would have imagined my belongings, my mom's belongings being that far up north."

The story doesn't end there, though. Another photo belonging to Newman's mother at their Greenfield home was sent flying Tuesday from the tornado, and ended up miles way again.

The photo of Newman's older sister, ended up in Boone County. It's the same story, an Iowan found the photo in their yard, posted it to Facebook and got connected with others' help.

Both photos are now being mailed back to the Newman family, and when the photo comes back, Newman said it's going to be an extra reminder of everything her family's been through this week.

RELATED: Gov. Reynolds, FEMA officials hold press conference in Greenfield

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