A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, damaging hundreds of homes and other structures as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions.
A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, damaging hundreds of homes and other structures as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions.
Injuries were reported but it wasn’t yet clear if anyone was killed in the storm.
Multiple tornadoes were reported in Nebraska but the most destructive storm moved from a largely rural area into suburbs northwest of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people.
Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees.
Video showed homes with roofs stripped of shingles, in a rural area near Omaha.
Law enforcement were blocking off roads in the area.
Hundreds of houses sustained damage in Omaha, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city, police Lt. Neal Bonacci said.
Police and firefighters are now going door-to-door helping people who are trapped.
Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said crews had gone to the “hardest hit area” and had a plan to search anywhere someone could be trapped.
“They’re going to be putting together a strategic plan for a detailed search of the area, starting with the properties with most damage,” 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.”
Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said many homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
“You definitely see the path of the tornado,” Bonacci said.
In one area of Elkhorn, dozens of newly built, large homes were damaged.
At least six were destroyed, including one that was leveled, while others had the top half ripped off.
