Devastating tornado rips through Nebraska destroying
hundreds of homes
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Noora Mykkanen
Published Apr 27, 2024, 12:27pm
|Updated Apr 27, 2024, 1:47pm
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A violent tornado has wreaked havoc after it blew
through the US state of Nebraska.
It ripped homes to pieces and left 10,000 without power
in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday.
The city with a population of 485,000 was the worst hit
in the state, although scores of tornadoes were
reported across the midwestern state.
Shocking footage reveals the scale of devastation in
parts of the city.
A drone view shows emergency personnel working at the
site of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado
in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 26, 2024, in this still
image obtained from a social media video. Alex
freed/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A
THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Destruction in Omaha, Nebraska (Picture: Alex
Freed/Reuters)
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A tornado begings touch down near U.S. Route 275 near
the Platte river near Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 26,
2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
A tornado lands near the U.S. Route 275 by the Platte
river near Omaha, Nebraska (Picture: Chris Machian/AP)
Homes were totaled and debris strewn across
neighbourhoods, while other houses just yards away
survived unscathed.
One of the worst affected areas is Elkhorn in the
western part of the city, where hundreds of homes were
damaged.
Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn, told AP of the
terrifying moment he could hear the tornado near his
home: ‘We watched it touch down like 200 yards over
there and then we took shelter.
‘We could hear it coming through. When we came up our
fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the
whole neighborhood’s gone.’
Kim Woods, his wife, said: ‘The whole neighborhood just
to the north of us is pretty flattened.’
Nebraska tornado.
The violent tornado smashed through Nebraska before
moving into Iowa state
Terry Kicking sifts through the damage after a tornado
leveled his home, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Omaha,
Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Omaha resident Terry Kicking inspects what is left of
his home after the tornado (Picture: Nikos Frazier /AP)
A view shows a damaged building in the aftermath of a
tornado in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 26, 2024, in
this picture obtained from social media. Alex freed/via
REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Hundreds of homes were badly damaged (Picture: Alex
Freed/Reuters)
A drone view shows people inspecting the site of
damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado in
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 26, 2024, in this still
image obtained from a social media video. Alex
freed/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A
THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Emergency crews are searching houses in Omaha for
trapped people (Picture: Alex Freed/Reuters)
Families sift through the destruction from a tornado,
Friday, April 26, 2024, near Omaha, Neb. (Nikos
Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
The Nebraska governor has ordered state resources to
help with the emergency response (Picture: Nikos
Frazier/AP)
A tornado is seen near north of Waverly, Neb., on
Friday, April 26, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-
Herald via AP)
A tornado near Waverley, Nebraska, on Friday (Picture:
Chris Machian/AP)
Several people have been injured, while there were no
reports of deaths by Friday night, the news agency
reports.
Emergency crews searched homes door-to-door in the
worst hit areas to help anyone trapped inside, the
city’s fire chief Kathy Bossman said.
She 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.’
One woman was removed from a damaged home on a
stretcher in the city of Blair, local KETV-TV reports.
Children took shelter in schools amid the tornado alert
issued just when pupils were due to head home for the
weekend.
Three people were injured in Lancaster County,
Nebraska, after an industrial building collapsed, AP
reports.
The tornado passed directly through the city’s Eppley
Airfield airport where planes were grounded and
passengers sheltered in storm bunkers.
Live were saved thanks to ‘warnings,’ Omaha police
chief Todd Schmaderer said.
Becky Kern, warning coordination meteorologist in the
National Weather Service’s Omaha office said: ‘It does
look like a big outbreak again tomorrow. Maybe slightly
farther south.
Meteorologists were working to determine whether it was
‘one long track tornado or was it several tornadoes’
while some of them appeared to ‘violent tornadoes,’ she
said.
The local sheriff’s office said a train had tipped over
northeast of Lincoln.
It then crossed the Missouri River and smashed into
Iowa.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen said on X (formerly
Twitter) that he ordered state resources to help with
emergency response.
He said communities will rally around affected families
and businesses, adding that ‘Nebraskans are no
strangers to severe weather.’
Unpredictable weather is set to continue over the
weekend in tornado-prone states as the Weather Service
issued tornado watches in parts of Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at
webnews@metro.co.uk.
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