Thursday, 11:50 a.m.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert gave an update this morning about the status of storm recovery in the city. The mayor said it looks like the worst damage is in Central and West Omaha based on initial assessments. Stothert said the city has seen more damage and power outages with this storm than any in the history of Omaha.
Omaha has five storm debris drop-off sites now open. Sites will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Greenbrier Park
- Hefflinger Park
- Levi Carter Park
- Towl Park
- 156th & F (Football field)
Omaha Public Works will be offering a city-wide curbside pickup option. That effort will likely start on Monday and is projected to take two to three weeks to complete.
Omaha Public Works currently has 30 crews working with the Omaha Police Department to clear tree debris from streets.
OPPD also gave an update on power restoration efforts. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, 38 percent of power outages have had electricity restored. OPPD has 105 crews currently working to restore power, with projections to have 330 crews in the field by Friday night. An OPPD representative called this the largest event in the utility's history. OPPD expects it to take seven to eight days to get power fully restored across the metro area.
Thursday, 10:45 a.m.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert is expected to speak at 11 a.m. on storm response.
MASSIVE POWER OUTAGES
OPPD reported outages for more than 200,000 customers across its service area.
"This will be among the largest restoration events we've undertaken, and it is all-hands-on-deck," an OPPD spokesperson said.
The area near 87th and Center experienced about a day and a half without power after a bad storm a couple of years ago. KMTV spoke with neighbor Bill Krum Wednesday, who was out clearing debris.
"I was taking a nap and got up about a quarter to six because I heard funny noises outside," he said. "That lasted about 15 minutes before the power went out altogether. I have a scared dog but he's hiding under my wife right now.
"There isn't a whole lot we can do. I moved branches off the driveway and that kind of thing, so I'll let them dry out before I try and deal with them any more than that."
If you have not yet reported your outage to OPPD, you can click here , use the OPPD app or call 1-800-554-6773.
TREES KNOCKED DOWN IN DUNDEE
Wednesday nights storm wreaked havoc on the Dundee neighbor, just driving into town neighborhood reporter Hannah McIlree had to change her route 5 times due to downed power lines and trees blocking the roadways. A neighbor told us he watched as the tree fell in front of his home.
"The winds had picked up pretty substantially and I started to hear a noise and it sounded like something was, was falling,I stepped away from the window and the next thing I knew was I was seeing the,, the tree kind of lie itself down next to, next to my house," said Greg Shimonek.
Dundee neighbor Greg Shimonek says he was getting ready to head out for a bike ride when the storm began. He's thankful he decided to wait and that his car was in his garage.
"The biggest thing is like, how am I going to get rid of it? I checked over the house. I'm hopeful that it's just damage to a couple of gutters. From that point, if the tree was going to fall, it kind of fell in the absolute best place," said SHimonek.
Another neighbor 13-year-old Alex Herrera recalls his mother screaming for him to run inside and take shelter as large trees were lifted from the ground by the wind.
"My mom was like screaming, it fell on Aidan, it, it fell on Aidan's house.So we were all like running to the basement and then it, it was like really loud too so we're all just like kinda like freaked out," said Herrera.
On the way, much of Cass Street and 66th to 68th Streets were also impacted by large trees and downed power lines.
OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED IN BENNINGTON
Downed power lines, trees and here a shed completely torn apart.
Just off of Bennington Road, the storm has passed and neighbors are out cleaning up.
Todd Schmitz has been living here for 15 years and his shed has withstood a lot of bad storms in that time but not this one.
The 35-by-20 foot building was destroyed.
"Oh I don't think I've seen wind like that before. I looked out and the trees were bending over to the ground and I didn't realize the shed was gone until the first initial thing came through," he said.
While he's hoping insurance can cover the damage, Schmitz says he's grateful him and his family are safe.
On our way to Bennington, we saw a lot of damage across all of Northwest Omaha.
We spoke with the Bennington Mayor who told us neighbors with tree debris can take it to the Bennington Soccer complex on the west side of the parking lot.
TREES BLOWN OVER IN ELKHORN
KMTV wanted to check in with neighbors in Ramblewood. One homeowner tells us he didn't have much damage from the tornado, but does now.
Ramblewood neighbor Todd Curtright said he's getting short on trees. That's because of all the storms we've seen this past year.
He said he watched through his home as a huge tree fell directly onto his car. Curtright has lived in his home since the '90s and said he's used to storms like these.
"It's been a rough year," said Curtright. "I got cancer in the past year and two storms. So hopefully our year starts getting a little better."
Elsewhere in Ramblewood, KMTV noticed a ton of downed trees in people's yards.
PASSENGERS STUCK ON PLANES AT EPPLEY AIRFIELD
Here at Eppley Airfield winds were clocked as high as 90 miles per hour. I'm your neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel. I just got done talking to a 17-year-old whose plane landed slightly ahead of the storm, but he was still on the plane when the highest winds hit.
"The skies went dark and the wind started to pick up, so we were like 'uh-oh.’”
Waylon Rayburn from Geneva, Nebraska was returning from a school trip to Ireland. He said the crew tried to deplane passengers quickly but...
"People at the front of the plane weren't freaking out too much because it must not have been moving as much as the back. We were all the way in the back. So like, to us, it was like, it was scary. It was like shaking all over the place.”
He said it felt like a long time before they were able to exit and then, when they did, the jetways were being buffeted by the storm.
"It was like whooshing and rocking, creaking," Rayburn said.
His mom was waiting in the airport and happy to finally be reunited with him.
I normally cover Southwest Iowa: I spoke with the mayor of Minden who told me the damage there was relatively minor.
Pottawattamie County authorities are still coping with five other natural disasters but said early assessments indicate this storm wasn't as severe as it might have been.
DRIVE-THRU RESTAURANTS BUSY
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