Powerful tornadoes tear across Nebraska and Iowa as weather service warns of ‘catastrophic’ damage –CNN

Devastating tornadoes are tearing across parts of eastern Nebraska and Iowa on Friday as a multiday severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.

Storms began in parts of the Plains and South early Friday afternoon. The National Weather Service had received at least 42 reports of tornadoes as of 6:30 p.m. ET, in at least three states, including Texas, Nebraska and Iowa. 

In Nebraska, one storm chaser described a “very devastating situation” after a tornado barreled through the Omaha suburb of Elkhorn. “Some houses have been swept and no longer exist,” Thomas Hinterdorfer told CNN. “Most homes in this immediate area have suffered significant damage and it’s likely going to be a long clean up effort.”

Here’s what we know so far:

• On Friday, a tornado roared through the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska, tearing the roofs off homes and crossing part of I-80 in the process. An overturned tractor-trailer, blown over by the storms, brought traffic to a slow crawl on the interstate, traffic cameras showed.

• In Elkhorn, an area on the edge of Omaha, first responders are still combing through the wreckage left behind by the tornado, searching through flattened homes for anyone trapped or injured, local authorities announced at a Friday news conference. The area is grappling with power outages, gas leaks, toppled trees, and unstable structures. Two people were transported for medical treatment with minor injuries. “We think injuries were so little because the warning systems in the City of Omaha and Douglas County were highly effective,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said. “We were not hit with a sudden storm. People had warned of this, which saved lives, in our opinion.”

• Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, the largest airport serving the region, was briefly closed Friday so officials could do a damage assessment, according to a post on X. The airport reopened around 6 p.m. local time after closing “due to storm activity”, according to Tim Schmitt, Chief Operations Officer with Omaha Airport Authority. Some planes and hangars were damaged, he added.

In a statement, the airport said passengers in the terminal were placed in storm shelters ahead of the tornado and no injuries were reported.

• Multiple cars of a train derailed near Waverly, Nebraska, after it was struck by a tornado, according to a railway spokesperson. Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway personnel were at the site Friday working to clear the area.