Several buildings in southwest Lincoln were damaged, some severely, Sunday evening when a powerful, tornadic storm moved through.
No reports of injuries were made to emergency dispatchers, said Ann Ames, deputy chief administrative officer for Lancaster County.
There were multiple reports of wind damage, including some apparent tornado damage. Two, possibly three, tornado touchdowns were reported to the National Weather Service.
Among the damage reported: The Dairy Sweet near Pioneers Park was destroyed, part of the roof peeled off from a Harley-Davidson store, a restaurant with people stuck inside was damaged, and a plane and property at the Lincoln Airport were damaged. A roof from one damaged building landed on Highway 2, blocking traffic.
The weather service will send a team of meteorologists to Lincoln on Monday to survey the damage and determine if and how many tornadoes occurred. Doing so is necessary to confirm a touchdown and to calculate a tornado’s intensity, size and path.
The sirens sounded in Lincoln shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Winds also damaged the Lincoln/Lancaster County 911 system, according to social media reports, but the city and county have a backup.
The weather service received a report of a brief touchdown 2 miles southeast of Malcolm, Nebraska, which is northwest of Lincoln. Jeff Bulin, a storm chaser, captured an image of what appears to be a touchdown on the west side of town near the Lincoln Airport. And there were reports that a possible tornado touched down near Pioneers Park, causing damage in that area.
Drivers were being reminded not to drive through flooded roads and to be careful about downed tree limbs.
Instability in the atmosphere spawned multiple storms across the region.
There were numerous reports of hail across Nebraska. The largest hailstones — up to baseball-size — were reported in Hamilton and Harlan Counties.
by Nancy Gaarder (2019, May 6) Omaha World-Herald
