Storms bring flooding, funnel cloud to Sunland

Daily Sun staff

A funnel cloud was sighted in western Jefferson County and heavy rainfall Wednesday night filled rivers and streams in southeast Nebraska Wednesday, officials said, while the threat of more rain Thursday night has left many counties under flood warnings until Thursday afternoon and even into Saturday morning.

Flood warnings are in effect for much of southeast Nebraska after three to six inches of rain fell across the area Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Jefferson County may have escaped the possible threat of a tornado Wednesday night after a funnel cloud that never touched the ground was located two miles north of U.S. Highway 136 near the Thayer-Jefferson county line, John McKee, Jefferson County emergency management coordinator, said.

However, parts of the county are experiencing flooding. The Little Blue River and the Little Sandy are out of their banks, causing flooding in lowlands and over roadways and washing out roads and culverts.

A flood warning on the Little Blue River remains in effect until Saturday morning. The river has a flood stage of 15 feet and is expected to rise to 18.1 feet.

Several roads have already been closed in Jefferson County due to the water over roadways, McKee said. A portion of Nebraska Highway 15 in northern Jefferson County was closed after several inches of water covered the highway

“We’re probably going to be closing roads all day long,” he said. “It was coming out so fast the ditches couldn’t hold the water,” he said.

In addition, Jefferson County is still dealing with damage from last week’s tornado. McKee is grateful there was not another tornado or reports of wind damage.

Northern Gage County is also experiencing flooding, with a lot of county roads flooded and damaged culverts, Mark Meints, Gage County emergency management coordinator, reported Thursday morning.

The Gage County Highway Department continued Thursday morning assessing roads.

North of Clatonia had a report of 2.5 inches of rain, Meints said.

As a flood warning remains in effect, emergency management will be keeping a close eye on the river and streams.

In Saline County, there were reports of 1.25-inch hail two miles northwest of Swanton, nickel-sized hail two miles south of Western, two miles south of Swanton and three miles northwest of Swanton and pea-sized hail in Dorchester, according to B.J. Fictum, Saline County emergency management coordinator.

Heavy rain also plagues the county, with two miles northwest of Swanton receiving 4.74 inches, 0.94 inches in DeWitt, 3.1 inches three miles northwest of Swanton, 2.40 inches two miles southwest of Tobias, 3.11 inches in Wilber and 1.42 inches in Dorchester, Fictum reported.

The towns of Wilber, Swanton, DeWitt and Dorchester are currently experiencing street flooding and numerous county roads in the southeastern part of the county along Swan Creek are flooded.

Elsewhere in the state, the National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado hit Nebraska Wednesday as several thunderstorms moved across the state.

No major injuries were reported Wednesday night.

The storms dropped golf ball size hail and significant amounts of rain on eastern Nebraska, raising the threat of flooding. And the forecast calls for a moderate chance that another round of severe weather will strike the state Thursday.

The service said one of the storms produced a tornado Wednesday evening in southern Butler County near the town of Ulysses, which is about 20 miles north of Interstate 80.

The extent of the damage the storm caused wasn’t immediately clear, but Butler County Sheriff Mark Hecker told the Lincoln Journal Star he was sure a tornado hit Ulysses after he drove through the town.

“I’ve got a lot of damage, from tree damage to utility poles to power lines down,” he said.

Several farm buildings were damaged or destroyed by the storm, and some irrigation pivots in the area were flipped over, Hecker said.

In southwest Nebraska, law enforcement officers reported spotting a tornado in Chase County about a mile northeast of Wauneta.

Much of the state remained under tornado and flood watches Wednesday night. And the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for large areas of the state.

The flash flood watches were issued partly because the ground is saturated from previous storms. Wednesday night, the National Weather Service also issued flash flood warnings for some areas including Saunders and Cuming counties in eastern Nebraska and Merrick, Polk, Hamilton and York counties in central Nebraska.