Tornado confirmed; new storms forecast

OMAHA - A tornado touched down in two south-central Nebraska trailer parks Wednesday night, but did not cause major damage or injuries, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms damaged a couple buildings near where the tornado struck and caused some minor flooding in northeast Nebraska, but most of the damage reported across the state consisted of fallen tree limbs and some power lines.

But at least one more round of storms was expected to hit southeast Nebraska Thursday night before the system that has soaked the state all week finally moves on.

The state's weather is expected to dry out by Saturday.

A team from the National Weather Service surveyed damage east of Hastings Thursday to confirm that the storm did produce a tornado along with strong winds. Meteorologist Steve Kisner said the tornado touched down Wednesday night just east of Hastings College, which is in the northeast part of the city.

The tornado traveled about two miles to the southeast of Hastings, crossing two trailer parks before lifting off. But Kisner said the tornado did not cause significant damage to the trailers.

Kisner estimated that the tornado had winds blowing between 60 and 70 mph. That means the tornado rated as an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which is the weakest rating.

The area between Hastings and Fairmont sustained the most damage from the storm.

Kisner said a grain bin that was under construction was destroyed, a storage building lost part of its roof, and a car wash in Fairmont lost its roof. Also many trees lost branches or were knocked down, and crops were damaged.

“That's pretty much the hardest-hit area we've seen,” said Kisner, who is based in Hastings.

Some wind damage and power outages were also reported in other parts of the state Wednesday but the outages were not widespread.

Flash flooding has been the main concern with this week's storms, because the rain couldn't soak into the soggy ground in many areas, National Weather Service hydrologist Jeff Reese said.

More than 5 inches of rain has fallen in some parts of northeast Nebraska over the last week.

That contributed to some minor flooding along the Elkhorn River Thursday near Pilger, West Point and Hooper.

Much of Nebraska has already received more rain in August than normal. The area around Norfolk has received 6 to 8 inches of rain so far this month, which is three to four times normal.

Some county roads between Columbus and Norfolk were flooded Thursday afternoon, but the major routes remained clear, said forecaster Van DeWald, who is based in Valley.

Another storm was expected to drop 1-3 inches of rain on southeast Nebraska and parts of Iowa on Thursday night. Lincoln was expected to be hit by that storm, as well.

A flash flood watch was issued for the area south and east of Lincoln.