Strong tornadoes rip through Nebraska, Iowa

Residents began sifting through the rubble Saturday after a tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, demolishing homes and businesses as it moved for miles through farmland and into subdivisions.

People gathered in the streets in the Elkhorn area of Omaha amid the scattered remains of the homes and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen planned to tour the area then hold a news conference later Saturday in Omaha.

The Friday night tornadoes wreaked havoc in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes.

There have been several reports of injuries but no fatalities reported.

One of the most destructive tornadoes moved for miles Friday through mostly rural farmland before chewing up homes and other structures in the suburbs of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan area population of about 1 million.

Photos on social media also showed heavy damage in the small town of Minden, Iowa, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha.

Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, said at a late Friday briefing that 40 to 50 homes had been completely destroyed. Two injuries were reported but none were life-threatening.

School buses have been brought in to give residents a ride out of town if they need one, he said.

The forecast for Saturday was ominous. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches early Saturday for northwestern Texas and across western Oklahoma.

“Tornadoes, perhaps significant tornadoes,” were possible Saturday afternoon and evening, said weather service meteorologist Bruce Thoren in Norman, Okla.

The threat of tornadoes extended into parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. Forecasters warned that large hail and strong wind gusts were also possible.



Teenagers watch a tornado from a parking garage as it pushes through Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo Kenneth Ferriera, Lincoln Journal Star via AP)