On Friday, a tornado tore through the Omaha, Nebraska, suburbs, destroying hundreds of homes and other buildings as it tore for miles across communities and countryside. Although there were several reported injuries, no one’s death was immediately recorded.
On Friday, there were other tornado reports in Nebraska and Iowa, but the most damaging storm moved from a mostly rural area into Omaha’s suburbs, which is home to 485,000 people. Images shared on social media revealed that Minden, Iowa, a small city located roughly 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) northeast of Omaha, had suffered significant damage.
A tornado struck an industrial building in Lancaster County, Nebraska, causing it to collapse while 70 people were inside, inflicting three injuries. Authorities reported that although several people were trapped, everyone was rescued and that none of the injuries were life-threatening.
In Omaha, hundreds of homes were damaged, primarily in the western Elkhorn neighborhood, according to Omaha police Lieutenant Neal Bonacci. To assist individuals, police and firefighters went door to door. According to Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman, crews rushed to the “hardest hit area” and had a plan to look wherever that someone might be stranded.
“A comprehensive search of the area will be planned strategically, with a focus on the properties that have sustained the most damage,” Bossman stated. “We’ll be searching basements and throughout properties in debris piles, trying to find any victims and making sure everyone who needs assistance is rescued.”
Many homes were completely demolished or significantly damaged, according to Bonacci.
“You can clearly see the tornado’s path,” Bonacci remarked.
Dozens of recently constructed, spacious homes in one neighborhood of Elkhorn sustained damage. At least six were completely destroyed, one of them leveled, while others had the tops torn off. Numerous emergency vehicles were present in the vicinity.
Elkhorn resident Pat Woods claimed, “We watched it touch down like 200 yards over there and then we took shelter.” “We could hear it entering the system. When we awoke, our fence had disappeared, and we could see the entire neighborhood gone to the northwest.
“The entire neighborhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened,” his wife Kim Woods continued.
Dhaval Naik, who claims to work with the home’s owner, stated that three people—including a child—were in the basement of the destroyed house when the tornado struck but managed to escape unharmed.
In Blair, a city just north of Omaha, one woman was seen being taken from a damaged home on a stretcher in KETV-TV footage.
Only two individuals, both with minor injuries, have been sent for treatment, according to Bonacci.
Crews are already doing a second search of residences, he said. He claimed that firefighters would be working all night to make sure that no one was inside any of the dangerous buildings.
Regarding the few significant injuries, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer stated, “People had warnings of this and that saved lives.”
Just before kids were supposed to be let out of school on Friday afternoon, a tornado warning was issued for the Omaha area. Students from several schools took cover inside buildings until the storm passed. Buses were still taking pupils home hours later.
The National Weather Service’s Omaha office’s warning coordination meteorologist, Becky Kern, questioned, “Was it one long track tornado or was it several tornadoes?”
She stated that it may take up to two weeks to complete the assessment and that the agency intended to deploy many crews over the next few days to ascertain the quantity and intensity of tornadoes.
She went on, “Some looked like violent tornadoes.” Tornadoes were reported in several locations. Thus, we refer to it as “forensic meteorology,” or “assembling all the damage indicators.”
Another tornado made landfall on Omaha’s eastern periphery, straight through portions of the airport there, Eppley Airfield. According to Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy, officials temporarily stopped aircraft operations at the airport to assess damage before reopening it.
Although the tornado missed the passenger terminal, McCoy stated that passengers fled to storm shelters in order to wait for the twister to pass.
The tornado entered Iowa north of Council Bluffs and crossed the Missouri River after going through the airport.
Damage reports were only beginning to pour in, according to Katrina Sperl, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. According to University of Nebraska Medical Center spokesperson Taylor Wilson, no injuries have been reported as of yet.
Sheriff’s officers in Lancaster County reported that they had information about an overturned train close to Waverly, following the collapse of an industrial facility that caused injuries to three persons.
According to a news release from the facility, two patients who were hurt in the county were receiving treatment at the trauma center at Bryan Medical Center West Campus in Lincoln. The patients were in triage, according to the hospital, and no information about their conditions was made public.
In the Omaha region, approximately 10,000 customers lacked electricity, according to the Omaha Public Power District.
The manager of Crescent, Iowa’s Pink Poodle Steakhouse, Daniel Fienhold, said he was outdoors observing the weather with his daughter and staff members. To the northeast of the town, he reported, “it looked like a pretty big tornado was forming.”
“I headed for the basement as soon as the wind picked up, but we never saw it,” Fienhold recalled. “It started raining, and then it started hailing, and then all the clouds started to kind of swirl and come together.”
It looked like a bad prediction for Saturday. Additionally, tornado watches were issued by the Weather Service for portions of Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Iowa. Additionally, forecasters issued a high wind gust and large hail alert.
Kern stated, “It does appear like a major outbreak again tomorrow.” “Perhaps a little bit further south.”
