Gage County survived another night of storms without damage, but as rain fell Thursday night the Big Blue River moved out of its banks causing minor flooding in areas.
The tornado warning went off around 5:30 p.m. Thursday night as storms out of Kansas with a history of producing tornadoes moved into southeast Gage County, Mark Meints, Gage County emergency management coordinator, said. But other than lots of rain, pea-sized hail and winds from 30-40 mph, Gage County escaped without any major damage.
However, flooding has occurred in portions of Gage County as the Big Blue River started rising a foot every three and a half hours, Meints said. The current level is 18.3 feet, approximately two feet above flood stage.
The river is expected to crest sometime this afternoon at 19.3 feet, Meints said.
“I don’t think it’s going to come up anymore unless we have some kind of freak storm,” he said.
There is flooding in Chautauqua Park, Meints said. However, the campground will remain open. Dogwood and Hickory roads southeast of DeWitt have been closed due to the flooding.
Gage County remains under a disaster declaration from May 22, Meints said. The declaration remains intact until they have three consecutive days of good weather.
At least one tornado struck southeast Nebraska Thursday, knocking out power and damaging some farm buildings, but no injuries were reported as another batch of severe weather stretched from Kansas and across the southeast corner of Nebraska before continuing into Iowa. Several tornadoes were reported in Kansas.
Nemaha County Emergency Manager Robert Cole said a tornado was confirmed about one mile southwest of Johnson, which is about 75 miles south of Omaha. But Cole said that tornado only damaged some outbuildings at that location.
Cole said the storm did knock out power in the town of Brock where about 160 people live. And State Highway 67 had to be closed near Brock because a power line fell across the road.
Crews were working on restoring power.
Flooding was reported on the Little Nemaha River near Auburn that forced the closing of part of U.S. Highway 136, Fobert said.
Another tornado was reported near Falls City in Richardson County, said Fobert, who is based in Valley, Neb. But that tornado had not been confirmed.
Severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches and flood watches and warnings have been issued for much of Nebraska.
And earlier Thursday, Frontier, Hayes and Lincoln counties were alerted after a trained spotter reported a funnel cloud about five miles north of Hayes Center.
Many Nebraska streams and rivers threatened to overflow their banks. More than 5 inches of rain fell in some places Wednesday.
Thunderstorms raked much of Nebraska late Wednesday, and hail was reported over many parts of the area, including Omaha and surrounding communities. High winds and suspected tornadoes ripped off roofs and siding, knocked over trees and fences and left some towns with little or no power.
In southwest Nebraska, law enforcement officers reported spotting a tornado in Chase County about a mile northeast of Wauneta.
Many of the 883 residents of Ceresco in east-central Nebraska spent Thursday checking their homes and businesses to tally the damage.
Village Board chairman Mike Lloyd said it looked like a tornado had scarred his town.
“We got power lines down, power poles down,” he said Thursday morning. “I got reports of roofs off of houses and barns down all around town.
“It’s pretty ugly here.”
Terry Miller, emergency management director for Saunders County, said the storm warnings and whistles helped prevent injuries.
He said the storm wake appears to be almost three miles wide and seven or eight miles long.
Officials confirmed that two tornadoes struck Ceresco Wednesday.
Terry Miller, emergency management director for Saunders County, said the storm warnings and whistles helped prevent injuries.
He said the storm wake appears to be almost three miles wide and seven or eight miles long.
National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Dergan said another tornado was confirmed west of Ceresco in Butler County near the towns of Ulysses and Dwight.
The Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., was forecasting bad weather for several Plains and Midwestern states.
It expected “widespread damaging thunderstorm winds ... strong tornadoes and large hail over a large part of the eastern Plains and the upper Mississippi Valley.”