Recovery starts after twisters hit parts of U.S.
OMAHA, Neb. — Residents began sifting through the rubble Saturday after a tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Neb., demolishing homes and businesses as it moved for miles through farmland and into subdivisions, then slamming an Iowa town.
Dozens of reported tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging at least 150 homes in Omaha alone. Six tornadoes are believed to have touched down in North and Central Texas.
There have been several injuries but no fatalities reported.
An industrial building in Lancaster County, Nebraska, was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or possibly two tornadoes then spent around an hour creeping toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 twister, with winds of 135 to 165 mph, said Chris Franks, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office.
Ultimately the twister slammed into the Elkhorn neighborhood in western Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan-area population of about 1 million.
Power outages peaked at 10,000 but had dropped to 4,300 by morning.
“We could hear it coming through,” said Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn. “When we came up, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighborhood’s gone.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the states plan to seek federal help.
The storm churned up 78 potential tornadoes, mostly in Iowa and Nebraska, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a briefing report.
A second tornado passed over Eppley Airfield on the eastern edge of Omaha, destroying four hanger buildings. No one was hurt, and the passenger terminal was not hit. The airport has resumed operations, although access to areas used by noncommercial pilots is limited so crew can clean up the mess, the airfield said in a news release.
Franks estimated that this twister was a slightly weaker EF2, capable of winds of 111 to 135 mph.
After hitting the airport, the storm moved into Iowa, taking aim at the small town of Minden.
Forty to 50 homes were completely destroyed. Two injuries were reported but none were life-threatening, said Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, at a late Friday briefing.
“It’s heartbreaking to see these people who have lost houses, cars, essentially their life until they have to rebuild it,” he said, urging people to stay away because of downed power lines.
At the Minden United Church of Christ, which survived the storm and has become a community hub of help and support, there were plans to take 4wheel-drive vehicles out to devastated parts of town to bring meals to those who need them, Pastor Eric Biehl said.
“A lot of people are just kind of in shock,” Biehl said. “It’s all overwhelming now.”
Tammy Pavich, who stores equipment on the west edge of town, said she “kind of breathed a sigh of relief” after the first round of tornadoes moved through Omaha. Then, she recalled, the storm “hit Minden dead-on.”
Even as the National Weather Service worked to evaluate the damage, the forecast for Saturday was ominous. It issued tornado watches for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Large hail also was possible. Some schools canceled proms because of the forecasts.
“Tornadoes, perhaps significant tornadoes,” were possible Saturday afternoon and evening, said weather service meteorologist Bruce Thoren in Norman, Okla.
The twisters in Texas spun up south of Dallas-Fort Worth, in Navarro, McLennan and Hill counties, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Saturday afternoon. Damage in Hill County is still being assessed.
Estimated wind gusts for the strongest of the tornadoes — rated as an EF2 — fell between 111 to 135 mph, according to the rating. That one is believed to have blown through east of West, near the McLennan and Hill County line, according to the NWS.
In Navarro County, two EF1 tornadoes and one EF0 also touched down. Two of the twisters had max wind speeds of 110 mph, said Madi Gordon, a meteorologist with the Fort Worth office.
There were two twisters in McLennan and Hill counties, an EF1 and one brief EF0, according to the weather service.
Officials do not yet have reports on injuries, but Gordon said survey teams have seen scattered tree damage and minor damage to roofs.