On April 26th, from late afternoon through the evening, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa were hit with a line of severe, tornado-producing storms. The Omaha metro took the heaviest hits from this tornado outbreak. Though the tornado touchdowns grazed the urban population, there are many communities with widespread damage. Elkhorn, NE and Blair, NE seem to have been the hardest hit locally. Surveys are still in progress. No deaths have been reported (as of Saturday morning.)
The line of storms built up as they crossed into Eastern Nebraska. The first tornadoes were reported just before 4pm on the east side of Lincoln, Nebraska. They headed toward Waverly, NE quickly. The primary tornado lifted and touched back down inside Douglas County as it barreled towards the outskirts of Elkhorn. This one kept heading northeast towards Bennington, Kennard, Blair, and eventually into Iowa. Another tornado started north of downtown Omaha, at the airtport no less, and continued toward Crescent, IA. Another tornado started just south of Pottawattamie County, rolling through there and Shelby County.
Towns Affected By The Storms
As noted by KMTV’s Tim Schmidt, several tornadoes stretched across the Nebraska and Iowa.
Bennington, NE: The tornadoes missed downtown Bennington by about a mile. However, the subdivisions outside town took a lot of damage, west of town, including Bennington Lakes.
Blair, NE: KETV’s Sarah Fili was in Blair, Nebraska immediately after the tornado passed through there. The tornado ripped through a neighborhood about five miles south of town.
Minden, IA: About half of the houses in Minden, IA have been destroyed, which is between 40-50 homes.
Omaha, NE: Elkhorn is an annexed town that is now part of the City of Omaha. The Elkhorn tornado ripped through houses just west of about 208th and West Maple Road area. Many of the homes there were recently constructed.
Also, a tornado touched down on the east side of Eppley Airfield, Omaha’s primary airport. The terminal to the west was not damaged, though many private hangars and outbuildings on the river-side of the airport were damaged.
Waverly, NE: One of the first tornadoes touched down northeast of Lincoln, NE, then crossed Interstate 80, heading into the area of Waverly. There doesn’t seem to be widespread damage in the town, which means many farms
Freight Train Derailed During Nebraska Tornadoes
Below is footage from inside the cab of the train that derailed as a tornado swept over it. This link shows the train cars knocked over after the storm passed.
Sources
Header image is from Lincoln Scanner.
- AP: Midwest tornadoes flatten homes in Nebraska suburbs and leave trails of damage in Iowa
- KETV: Tornadoes leave trail of devastation in Nebraska, Iowa
- NE Examiner: ‘Historic’ Nebraska tornadoes, storms leave damage in their wake
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