Overnight tornadoes, storms leave heavy destruction in Nebraska, Iowa

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

A preliminary 106 tornadoes leveled homes and buildings in six states on Friday, with Nebraska and Iowa the hardest hit, officials said.

Omaha, Nebraska, Mayor Jean Stothert said on Saturday that no deaths had been reported and there were a relatively few minor injuries after two destructive tornadoes struck the region. Injuries, damaged homes and downed trees were reported later Saturday evening in Oklahoma.

Despite heavy damage to some residents' homes, including those belonging to three Omaha firefighters and two police commanders, officials on Saturday were grateful that it wasn't worse.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Stothert said she planned to sign an emergency declaration, which would allow residents to tap state and federal recovery aid.

She credited the National Weather Service and local news media for warning the public about the tornadoes.

"I do want to thank our local forecasters for the clear an accurate warnings that they gave," she said. "I absolutely feel that this early warning, because of all of you, you prevented a lot of injury and probably death."

Lindsay Huse, health director for Douglas County, which underlies Omaha, said by email that fewer than two dozen people suffered minor injuries. They were were treated at medical facilities and have been released, she said.

"That's just miraculous," Huse said earlier at the news conference.

People walk through the rubble of a house that was leveled in Elkhorn, Neb., on Saturday.Nicholas Ingram / AP

The National Weather Service conducted assessments of two tornadoes that struck the Omaha area Friday afternoon. One started in the area of Lincoln and ended up in western Douglas County, NWS meteorologist Chris Franks said at the news conference.

It was preliminarily assessed at a "solid" EF3 on the 0-5 scale used by federal forecasters, he said. An EF3 tornado can produce sustained winds of 136 to 165 mph and shift homes off their foundations while peeling away exterior walls.

At Omaha Eppley Airfield, a tornado with a preliminary assessment of EF2 struck Friday afternoon, Franks said. An EF2 tornado can produce sustained winds of 111 to 135 mph that can partially peel away rooftops and breach window glass.

Tornado activity was also reported in neighboring Iowa. Franks said an estimated 80 tornadoes were reported in Douglas County and adjacent communities in Nebraska and Iowa on Friday.

In Lancaster County, Nebraska, a tornado was blamed for a train derailment and a semi-truck rollover, according to National Weather Service notes on Friday's vortexes.

Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said hundreds of homes were damaged, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city.

"You definitely see the path of the tornado," Bonacci said.

Police and firefighters went door to door to help residents and to search areas where people could be trapped, Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said.

"We'll be looking throughout properties in debris piles, we'll be looking in basements, trying to find any victims and make sure everybody is rescued who needs assistance," Bossman said.

Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn, told The Associated Press, that he and his wife took shelter but could hear the tornado "coming through."

"When we came up, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighborhood's gone," he said.

His wife, Kim Woods, said the neighborhood to the north of them was "pretty flattened."

Two women help carry a friend's belongings out of their damaged home after a tornado passed through the area in Bennington, Neb., on Friday.Josh Funk / AP

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster emergency for Pottawattamie County after video posted on social media showed parts of Minden, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, completely flattened.

Jeff Theulen, the chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office, said at a Friday evening news conference that 40 or 50 homes were "completely destroyed." There have been two reports of injuries, one "fairly severe but not life-threatening," he told reporters.

"It's very dangerous right now. We've shut off entrance to the city except for the people that live here," he said, noting that "50% of the town is damaged badly and then there's light damage everywhere else."

In nearby Shelby County, about 40 homes were damaged, said county emergency coordinator Alex Londo. Officials were assessing the destruction, he said, noting there have been no reports of fatalities.

National Weather Service offices surveyed damage ahead of more severe weather expected Saturday.

The service reported 106 tornadoes on Friday in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. Another tornado was reported Friday morning in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma was also affected by the unstable air and thunderstorms that marched eastward on Friday, but the service listed no confirmed tornadoes for the state.

Tornado damage in Minden, Iowa.Courtesy Bryan Olsen

Among Friday's tornadoes getting preliminary assessment by the weather service were two near Waco, Texas — one believed to be at EF2 strength — and the other assessed at EF1 (86 to 110 mph).

More than 30 million people in Oklahoma City; Dallas; Wichita, Kansas; Omaha; Milwaukee; and Madison, Wisconsin, are in the path of severe weather on Saturday.

Nearly 7 million people were under tornado watches covering the northern edge of Texas, the western half of Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. The watches urge residents to be prepared because tornadoes are possible if not likely.

More urgent tornado warnings were issued early Saturday evening for the northern edge of Texas along the Oklahoma border for multiple regions of Oklahoma and for Monticello, Wisconsin, and Albany, Wisconsin, according to the weather service.

On Saturday in Garfield, Kay and Payne counties in Oklahoma, homes and other structures were damaged and trees were down due to wind, officials said.

"Storms are not over for the evening," the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said in a statement.

The weather service office in Norman, Oklahoma, said late Saturday that multiple tornadoes in its coverage area were confirmed, including one near Davenport and more than one in the area of Sulphur.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported people have been injured in Sulphur, according to the Department of Emergency Management, though it wasn't clear exactly how.

The department said in a late-night statement it has fielded reports of storm-damaged homes and structures in Cotton, Garfield, Kay, Oklahoma and Payne counties. Most of those areas also had reports of downed trees.

Some roadways were flooded in Stephens County, and Tillman County was hit with flash flooding, the state office said. More than 11,000 utility customers statewide were without power late Saturday, the Department of Emergency Management said.

Unstable air, excited by a clash of a cool low pressure system from the northwest and warmer air to the south, roiled over the plains again on Saturday. The system was likely to produce heavy rain and even flash flooding in some areas, federal forecasters said.

The National Weather Service office in Wichita reported "flooding concerns" for southeast Kansas, which appeared to be inundated with rain on Saturday.

"Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms are expected over parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and North Texas today into tonight," the agency's Storm Prediction Center said in a Facebook post. "Strong, potentially long-track tornadoes, very large hail, and damaging winds are likely."