Millard residents are cleaning up today after an early morning storm blew through the area, tearing off roofs and parts of houses, blowing out windows and pushing trees to the ground.
Heavy winds from a possible tornado near 132nd and Q streets knocked over this tree.Between 20 and 30 homes and businesses in the area were severely damaged in the storm, and structures with some damage likely will number more than 100, Assistant Omaha Fire Chief Joe Gibilisco said. The worst of the damage looked to be on Birchwood Avenue and Jefferson, Y and Z Streets between 136th and 138th Streets, Gibilisco said."It's a miracle, when you look at it, that no one was (seriously) hurt," he said.Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman toured the area this morning. He said after 11 a.m. that this is the worst damage he has seen in the series of storms that began on May 22 in terms of the amount of damage to homes and property.
Shelters
• The American Red Cross is opening a shelter in the gymnasium at Millard's Central Middle School, 12801 L St., for anyone displaced by the storm. That shelter will remain open throughout the day and into the evening, said Deborah Neary, deputy director of the Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross. Anyone affected by the storm is encouraged to use the shelter. • The Red Cross hospitality center at Millard Bible Church, 14345 Y St., will remain open until noon. • Red Cross workers also will drive through the affected area with food for survivors of the storm and emergency workers. Mental health workers also are being sent to help victims of the storms. Lt. Russ Zeeb of the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said that it appears that after the storm blew through Douglas County, it moved south across the Sarpy County line, hitting near 147th Street and Chandler Road, then up Nebraska Highway 50 to Josephine Street.The Omaha Police Department has set up a perimeter around the most severely damaged area. Officers were blocking access from Harrison Street to Discovery Drive, from 132nd to 138th Streets."We're limiting access because there are downed power lines and trees," said Officer Michael Pecha, an Omaha police spokesman.Residents and people escorted by residents are being allowed in. Pecha said the closure also will help speed the cleanup effort.Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, who arrived in the neighborhood about 7:30 a.m., spent an hour surveying the damage. He said two people were taken to the hospital: a child who sustained a cut to the arm and an adult with chest pains that may or may not be attributable to the storm."It's a miracle no one got killed," Fahey said.About 5,000 homes and businesses were without power at 11 a.m., said OPPD spokesman Mike Jones.Most of those homes were in the Millard area , but about 1,000 homes near 108th and Lake Streets were without power. Crews with the Omaha Public Power District had repaired all but one power circuit. At the height of the outage, 46 circuits were out and 13,800 OPPD customers were without power.A shelter has been set up for displaced people at Millard Bible Church, 14345 Y St. Damage reports should be called in to Douglas County Emergency Management workers at these phone numbers: 504-6638 or 504-6641.Denise Horton said about 2:24 a.m., she heard the storm, opened a window and shingles started flying toward her. She said she closed the window, took her daughter downstairs and heard sirens go off four minutes later.Horton said she moved to Omaha several years ago from Southern California."I'll take an earthquake over this," she said.
Sunday's fierce storms hit Carquest Auto Parts, 13510 Q St., hard.Horton had some damage to her roof, but other houses in the neighborthood were more extensively damaged.Barbara Mayes, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Valley, Neb., said a weather service crew was conducting a damage assessment this morning to determine whether the damage was caused by a tornado.An employee at the Wal-Mart at 132nd and L Streets said she was blown off her feet as the storm hit around 2:30 a.m.Carrie Jenkins, who works as a stocker at the store, said she had just come in the front doors, which face south, as a strong gust hit the front of the building.Jenkins said she heard what sounded like a train, so she turned around and went toward the door to look. "How stupid am I?" she said, laughing. The door opened and she was blown back into the store "past the cash registers.""It was like somebody had pushed me really, really hard," she said. She was not injured.Workers said a small section of the store's roof collapsed, apparently when an air conditioner shifted, dropping roofing down into the store and hitting one customer, who reportedly was not injured.After part of the roof collapsed, employees said they started smelling natural gas. Managers quickly moved the 30 or so employees and six customers to rooms in the back of the building. When the fire department arrived, all inside were told to leave the building."So, we're out in the rain thinking there's a tornado out there,"Jenkins said, "and we're trying to decide which is worse - blowing up or getting hit by a tornado."Heavy rains descended on Omaha as the storm hit, but Mayes said the rotating portion of the thunderstorm had moved out of the area by about 3:30 a.m.Allen Krabbenhoft, 5071 S. 134th St., said his garage was blown away and eight storm windows were knocked out of the front porch of his home. He said he was awakened about 2:30 a.m."All I heard was a great big gust of wind and an explosion," Krabbenhoft said. He attributed the explosion to "the garage getting ripped off the foundation."Considerable tree damage was done southeast of 72nd and Dodge Streets and power was out there as well. In addition, a large tree was blocking Pacific Street just east of 52nd Street.Damage also was reported to a Carquest Auto Parts at 135th and Q Streets and to cars at Driver's Edge Auto Sales at 136th and Q Streets.Deputy Nathan Kovarik of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said some utility poles were down in the vicinity of 182nd and Q Streets, and 192nd and Adams Streets.Joyce Berg, owner of Millard Car Wash at 5226 S. 132nd St., said the roof came off her business and a wall buckled. A gas line was broken in the process, she said.In central Omaha, the storm knocked down limbs and some trees and power lines. Large limbs were down in Elmwood Park. Fallen trees blocked or partially blocked streets near 52nd and Pacific Streets, 68th Avenue and Farnam Street and Westgate Road near West Center Road.Sara Derosa, who lives near 52nd and Pacific Streets, said she heard tornado sirens at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and at first did not hear any winds. Soon after, heavy winds hit.About 2,150 homes and businesses served by MidAmerican Energy throughout Iowa were without power this morning. The majority of those outages were storm-related, said MidAmerican spokesman Mark Reinders. By 11 a.m., power had been restored to all but a few customers.
Heavy winds from a possible tornado near 132nd and Q streets knocked over this tree.Between 20 and 30 homes and businesses in the area were severely damaged in the storm, and structures with some damage likely will number more than 100, Assistant Omaha Fire Chief Joe Gibilisco said. The worst of the damage looked to be on Birchwood Avenue and Jefferson, Y and Z Streets between 136th and 138th Streets, Gibilisco said."It's a miracle, when you look at it, that no one was (seriously) hurt," he said.Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman toured the area this morning. He said after 11 a.m. that this is the worst damage he has seen in the series of storms that began on May 22 in terms of the amount of damage to homes and property.
Shelters
• The American Red Cross is opening a shelter in the gymnasium at Millard's Central Middle School, 12801 L St., for anyone displaced by the storm. That shelter will remain open throughout the day and into the evening, said Deborah Neary, deputy director of the Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross. Anyone affected by the storm is encouraged to use the shelter. • The Red Cross hospitality center at Millard Bible Church, 14345 Y St., will remain open until noon. • Red Cross workers also will drive through the affected area with food for survivors of the storm and emergency workers. Mental health workers also are being sent to help victims of the storms. Lt. Russ Zeeb of the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said that it appears that after the storm blew through Douglas County, it moved south across the Sarpy County line, hitting near 147th Street and Chandler Road, then up Nebraska Highway 50 to Josephine Street.The Omaha Police Department has set up a perimeter around the most severely damaged area. Officers were blocking access from Harrison Street to Discovery Drive, from 132nd to 138th Streets."We're limiting access because there are downed power lines and trees," said Officer Michael Pecha, an Omaha police spokesman.Residents and people escorted by residents are being allowed in. Pecha said the closure also will help speed the cleanup effort.Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, who arrived in the neighborhood about 7:30 a.m., spent an hour surveying the damage. He said two people were taken to the hospital: a child who sustained a cut to the arm and an adult with chest pains that may or may not be attributable to the storm."It's a miracle no one got killed," Fahey said.About 5,000 homes and businesses were without power at 11 a.m., said OPPD spokesman Mike Jones.Most of those homes were in the Millard area , but about 1,000 homes near 108th and Lake Streets were without power. Crews with the Omaha Public Power District had repaired all but one power circuit. At the height of the outage, 46 circuits were out and 13,800 OPPD customers were without power.A shelter has been set up for displaced people at Millard Bible Church, 14345 Y St. Damage reports should be called in to Douglas County Emergency Management workers at these phone numbers: 504-6638 or 504-6641.Denise Horton said about 2:24 a.m., she heard the storm, opened a window and shingles started flying toward her. She said she closed the window, took her daughter downstairs and heard sirens go off four minutes later.Horton said she moved to Omaha several years ago from Southern California."I'll take an earthquake over this," she said.
Sunday's fierce storms hit Carquest Auto Parts, 13510 Q St., hard.Horton had some damage to her roof, but other houses in the neighborthood were more extensively damaged.Barbara Mayes, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Valley, Neb., said a weather service crew was conducting a damage assessment this morning to determine whether the damage was caused by a tornado.An employee at the Wal-Mart at 132nd and L Streets said she was blown off her feet as the storm hit around 2:30 a.m.Carrie Jenkins, who works as a stocker at the store, said she had just come in the front doors, which face south, as a strong gust hit the front of the building.Jenkins said she heard what sounded like a train, so she turned around and went toward the door to look. "How stupid am I?" she said, laughing. The door opened and she was blown back into the store "past the cash registers.""It was like somebody had pushed me really, really hard," she said. She was not injured.Workers said a small section of the store's roof collapsed, apparently when an air conditioner shifted, dropping roofing down into the store and hitting one customer, who reportedly was not injured.After part of the roof collapsed, employees said they started smelling natural gas. Managers quickly moved the 30 or so employees and six customers to rooms in the back of the building. When the fire department arrived, all inside were told to leave the building."So, we're out in the rain thinking there's a tornado out there,"Jenkins said, "and we're trying to decide which is worse - blowing up or getting hit by a tornado."Heavy rains descended on Omaha as the storm hit, but Mayes said the rotating portion of the thunderstorm had moved out of the area by about 3:30 a.m.Allen Krabbenhoft, 5071 S. 134th St., said his garage was blown away and eight storm windows were knocked out of the front porch of his home. He said he was awakened about 2:30 a.m."All I heard was a great big gust of wind and an explosion," Krabbenhoft said. He attributed the explosion to "the garage getting ripped off the foundation."Considerable tree damage was done southeast of 72nd and Dodge Streets and power was out there as well. In addition, a large tree was blocking Pacific Street just east of 52nd Street.Damage also was reported to a Carquest Auto Parts at 135th and Q Streets and to cars at Driver's Edge Auto Sales at 136th and Q Streets.Deputy Nathan Kovarik of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said some utility poles were down in the vicinity of 182nd and Q Streets, and 192nd and Adams Streets.Joyce Berg, owner of Millard Car Wash at 5226 S. 132nd St., said the roof came off her business and a wall buckled. A gas line was broken in the process, she said.In central Omaha, the storm knocked down limbs and some trees and power lines. Large limbs were down in Elmwood Park. Fallen trees blocked or partially blocked streets near 52nd and Pacific Streets, 68th Avenue and Farnam Street and Westgate Road near West Center Road.Sara Derosa, who lives near 52nd and Pacific Streets, said she heard tornado sirens at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and at first did not hear any winds. Soon after, heavy winds hit.About 2,150 homes and businesses served by MidAmerican Energy throughout Iowa were without power this morning. The majority of those outages were storm-related, said MidAmerican spokesman Mark Reinders. By 11 a.m., power had been restored to all but a few customers.
This shit is crazy. I got off work around 1:45, smoked a bowl with Dawn and went home and took a shower. When I got out, my whole family was sittin in the basement. Kinda freaked me out a lil bit..I didn't really think anything of it and got some food, and by that time the sirens were done going off and my family was goin back upstairs. I started watchin the news and got paranoid as fuck. We got a huge thunder storm right after that so I was freakin. I wonder if we'll all get tornados, or just one big one that will completely distroy our city. I have a feeling it might happen this year. How scary is that? The natural disasters lately are intensifying, it's scary as fuck. I don't wanna die in a fuckin tornado!
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