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2 More Nebraska Tornadoes Confirmed
National Weather Service Confirms Sightings
POSTED: 8:58 pm CDT June 5,
2008
UPDATED: 4:45 pm CDT June 6,
2008
OMAHA, Neb. -- The National Weather Service's office in Valley confirmed on Friday the presence of two more tornadoes in eastern Nebraska.It said the two twisters hit the Ulysses area Wednesday, moving through town and then damaging rural areas in Seward and Butler counties. The Weather Service said that several center-pivot irrigation systems were overturned and buildings and trees were knocked down or otherwise damaged.The service had already confirmed the two tornadoes that cut through the Ceresco area on Wednesday.
The service said all four tornadoes were rated EF-1, with rotating winds between 86 and 110 mph.The National Weather Service said a Thursday tornado has been confirmed in southeast Nebraska as a batch of severe storms struck parts of the state for a second day in a row. The service said a trained weather spotter reported a tornado about 1 mile south of Johnson, Neb., which is about 75 miles south of Omaha.No injuries were reported.Residents of Johnson picked through debris on Friday."This morning, we came up bright and early and different neighbors came," said resident Irene Seeba. "We didn't even ask for help. They just showed up."Seeba's storage shed was destroyed when the storm hit. She said it only took a few hours to move the building's remains, but sorting its contents would be more of a challenge."We do have a pile of stuff that's going to the dump, and piles to sort to see if we can still salvage anything," Seeba said.Horse trainer Russ Smith said he was shocked when he left his house after the storm passed."I had no idea how bad it was. When it stopped raining, I opened the door and the building was gone. It took out the building on both sides of me," Smith said.The building pieces scattered for miles from where they once stood. Russ said it amounts to the loss of his business, and that has him in shock."The cleanup, for me, is more overwhelming and probably about as costly as the actual rebuilding," he said. "We've been able to get quite a bit done this morning and I'm very grateful for that."The storm spawned a tornado in Marysville, Kan., then passed through Pawnee County, Neb., before it reached Johnson.Storm chasers Steve Stark and Jayne Mahoney said they saw a funnel form out of a wall cloud off Highway 2, west of Interstate 29, near Nebraska City. They caught it all on tape as the funnel dipped low and then touched down."We seen it come down from the south, heading towards the northeast, and it just continued to go a little bit," said Stark. "Not a large tornado, but nonetheless, it was."A tornado caused serious damage to homes and buildings near Falls City. One home was particularly hard hit with snapped trees, a damaged roof and windows and farm buildings damaged. No injuries were reported.Though the storms did some damage, most destruction will likely be tallied from flooding.Thursday's big storm cell blew in from the south. At Bartlett, Iowa, just south of Interstate 29, clouds moved in quickly. The cell headed for Red Oak, Essex and Shenandoah. Essex got heavy rain and quite a bit of wind, locals said. Visibility was very poor.Paige County emergency management officials said they received some calls reporting funnel clouds. None were immediately confirmed.At Shenendoah, the Nishnabotna River overflowed its banks into soybeans fields and streets.Downed trees and debris were scattered across the rural area where the tornado passed.Some tree damage was noted in Omaha, but nobody was hurt.The Omaha Public Power District said there were 2,600 power customers without electricity around Omaha at 10 p.m. Thursday. Crews planned to work through the night to restore power.
Copyright 2008 by KETV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

















