Report: Twister Derails Train in Nebraska

[beevul]

Report: Twister Derails Train in Nebraska
Thursday, May 29, 2008

KEARNEY, Neb. — A civil emergency has been issued in Kearney after a storm carrying several tornadoes rolled through the city.

There were reports Thursday evening of downed trees and power lines, as well as a train derailment just outside of town. There's also reports of damage on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus and at the county fairgrounds.

The Buffalo County emergency manager has asked all Kearney residents to remain at home Thursday evening. Travel was discouraged because of storm damage in parts of the city.

Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker says 12,000 customers were without power in the city Thursday evening.

He said numerous power lines were down in the northwest, northeast and southeast parts of Kearney, and would remains so until a second wave of storms passed. Crews were on standby, "waiting for little safer conditions," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,360362,00.html

Fox...But...Kearney got rolled pretty hard tonite. There are cars stacked in places, and alot of houses destroyed, a ton of people without power, trees and branches down everywhere. There was initially like a 2 block area in town that had power after the storm, and it was all standing room only...for gas, food, everything. Power has been restored in areas. It is unclear yet if it was a tornado or strait line winds or both, that did all the damage.

After going to Omaha early this mearning, I was one decision away from driving home through this. We decided to drive sough to Tecumseh and west from there and avoided it all luckily. We listened to coverage of these storms all day, over ten tornados on the ground in that time, and flash flood warnings again in many areas. Red willow county reservoir is already flooded and releasing water at full capacity too.

[CoffeeCat]

1. We'll be getting what Nebraska got...

...there are storm warnings all night in Iowa.

I'm in central Iowa, and we're supposed to be getting severe
storms tonight and possibly tornadoes.

I'm glad you made it through, ok, neighbor.

[beevul]

2. Thank you!!

What was I thinking. You stay safe tonite.


And keep an eye on the radar.

[beevul]

3. Update: Over a dozen semi trucks on their sides/overturned.

Update: Over a dozen semi trucks on their sides/overturned

Parts of I-80 closed.

Traffic is being rerouted to an exit west of grand island.

The guy on the radio said that most ways in and out of town are impassible.

Menards and Build it have power from generators, and are staying open late for people that need building materials - more weather is possible tonight.

Published Thursday May 29, 2008
Kearney begins assessing damages from tornado
BY MIKE KONZ AND TODD GOTTULA
THE KEARNEY HUB



KEARNEY, Neb. — Thursday night Kearney residents began assessing the damage after numerous tornadoes tore through the town.

Damage throughout town was widespread with electrical lines and trees littering streets and power out through much of the town. Cars were piled on top of each other, several buildings had roofs torn off, and the expo building at the fairgrounds had collapsed. At least one building downtown lost its roof.

Miraculously, there were no initial reports of injuries.

Darren Lewis, the emergency management director for Buffalo County, said there were four to six confirmed touchdowns in the Kearney area.

"Amazingly enough, we have not had any reports of personal injuries," he said. The Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska National Guard are aiding agencies in Kearney.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10346232