Severe storms cause significant damage across eastern Nebraska, western Iowa

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Several communities across the Omaha metro were ravaged by severe weather Thursday night, as multiple tornadoes were reported in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

Bennington and Manley in Nebraska and Randolph and Essex in Iowa were some of the most heavily impacted areas. The National Weather Service is expected to confirm in the coming days exactly what damages were the result of tornadoes.

One possible tornado was spotted near Oakland, Iowa, at about 8 p.m. Nearly an hour later, there was serious concern about a very large tornado that was passing through the Essex, Iowa, area.

Send us your videos & photos

Several First Alert 6 viewers submitted photos and videos of damage to their homes and vehicles.

At about 7 p.m., tornado sirens went off in Omaha after a tornado touched down north of the city. Sirens were also going off in Bennington and Elkhorn, and people at Eppley Airfield took shelter for about 15 minutes.

As the storm passed through Colfax and Dodge counties, strong winds kicked up a dust cloud big enough to force drivers to pull off Highway 30 near Rogers and North Bend. A tornado warning was issued for Dodge County at about 6 p.m., but a tornado was not confirmed in that area.

OPPD’s peak outage number reached about 1,200 customers on Thursday night just after 9 p.m.