A storm system stretching from Kansas to Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri dropped three tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa Wednesday.
There were no injuries.
Damage is relegated to out buildings, fences and debris.
It’s the talk of the town – where were you when the tornado was visible for miles in west Omaha Wednesday afternoon?
Nearly everyone has a story.
“Basically we saw the clouds go up right here, by the side of the house and that’s when we took off to go downstairs,” said Deb Sampson, who says she saw the EF1 tornado lift into the sky near 132nd and Blondo.
“All of a sudden there was an implosion and everything got sucked up and we started hearing like a freight train noise and that’s when we decided we better get down into the basement,” Sampson said.
Although Sampson’s husband Steve says they weren't in danger, because the couple has experienced severe weather before, it was sudden.
“It was shocking," said Steve Sampson. "It was fast and furious, gone in a minute."
A few blocks from the Sampson's, fences are torn apart, trees down and debris scattered in yards.
Kevin Reddick owns Husker Tree and Landscaping.
“I’m always prepared when there’s weather like this,” Reddick said. “It didn’t stay down long enough to do as much damage as it could’ve done. That was truly a blessing.”
When Reddick and his crew arrived, two large tree limbs were broken and scattered in front of a home.
“Depending on which way the wind was blowing, it could’ve fell back towards the patio deck of the house or the whole tree could’ve come down and hit these power boxes down here and there could have been some serious damage there,” Reddick said.
While work for landscapers continues, the Sampsons say for a tornado, things were largely unoticable.
“No darkness, just regular clouds, no hail, no wind, it just didn’t seem like anything (until) we saw the swirling in the clouds,” said Deb Sampson.
The tornado was 50 yards at its widest and was on the ground about four minutes along 132nd from south of Maple past Blondo.
About 10 minutes after the Blondo twister, a second, smaller tornado touched down at 132nd north of Lake.
Surveyors continue to measure a third tornado Wednesday, that touched down in Stanton, Iowa.
Winds were measured across the affected areas in excess of 60 mph.
Cathy Zapotocny with the National Weather Service in Valley refers to the locally famous system as a ‘mini supercell’ partially characterized by isolated, sporadic activity and lower temperatures.
For a miniature supercell, an EF1 tornado is within the range of worst case scenario, meteorologically speaking, for such an event, Zapotocny said.
There have been six tornadoes since 2008 in the greater Omaha area.
The worst on June 8, 2008, that destroyed buildings and caused multiple injuries in the city.
