Devastating tornadoes rip through Nebraska and Iowa, sending crews searching flattened homes as storm threat continues.

Destructive tornadoes gutted homes as they plowed through Nebraska and Iowa, and the dangerous storm threat could escalate Saturday as tornado-spawning storms pose a risk from Michigan to Texas.

The area of Elkhorn in Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the hardest-hit communities after severe storms barreled through parts of the Plains and South early Friday afternoon. A powerful tornado leveled homes, which crews were searching for anyone trapped or injured, local authorities announced Friday during a news conference.

Meanwhile in nearby Iowa, a large tornado was reported in the small city of Minden, according to the National Weather Service. Footage obtained by CNN shows the devastation of mangled structures and widespread debris.

The severe weather threat is expected to continue through Sunday, with Saturday possibly being the most dangerous day. Strong tornadoes are possible from Michigan to Texas, including in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Kansas City, Wichita, Dallas, Austin, Milwaukee and Chicago.

The Town of Webster released body camera footage Friday showing Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley's tense interaction with a Webster police officer after Doorley was caught speeding Monday.

Doorley released a statement Thursday admitting she had been driving 55 mph in a 35 mph zone along Phillips Road. Doorley said the distance was less than half a mile from her neighborhood. She can be heard saying she was driving home from work when she realized she had been caught.

Instead of pulling over, Doorley said she called Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier to inform him that she was not a threat. She said that she would talk to the officer at her house.

In the video, when asked why she didn't stop, Doorley said, "I didn't feel like stopping on Phillips Road at 5:30." The officer then replied, "That's not your choice. You know that."

A 2.9 magnitude earthquake struck Gladstone, New Jersey at 9:49 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey.
It's been three weeks since the 4.8 earthquake shook New Jersey. Experts say aftershocks could last weeks or months.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) released the latest severe weather damage reports:

Garfield County Emergency Management reports two homes damaged in the Hillsdale area
Grant County reports numerous trees damaged or down.

Kay County Emergency Management reports three to four structures damaged, several power poles broken, and numerous trees down. Two storm-related vehicle accidents are also reported.
Payne County Emergency Management reports damage to trees and outbuildings near Lone Chimney.

OEM officials are asking residents to be diligent as storms continue, to not drive or walk into water during a flash flood.

- Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has issued a verbal state of disaster emergency proclamation due to severe weather expected to impact the state this weekend.

Tornadoes, funnel clouds appear in parts of KAKEland; watches and warnings remain in effect

This declaration activates the Kansas Response Plan and the ability to expedite state agency assistance to communities in need, the governor's office said in a release.

"Due to the forecast of severe weather, I've declared a disaster emergency to ensure state assistance is readily available if needed," Gov. Kelly said. "I encourage all Kansans to have an emergency kit and a family plan in preparation for a tornado. Stay updated on local weather conditions by listening to a NOAA weather radio or local TV and radio stations. Once a warning is activated, it is important to take cover."

McConnell AFB empties flight line ahead of severe weather

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management will staff the State Emergency Operations Center through Sunday and will assist counties and local responders if requested.

U.S. Air Force Leigh Duncan, a liaison officer for the Air Force Radiation Team, explains what to do in a radiation event during exercise Vibrant Response 24 in Fort Carson, Colorado, April 23, 2023. Vibrant Response is an annual U.S. Northern Command directed command post exercise. As U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North is Vibrant Response 24's executive agent responsible for ensuring the training focuses on a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) disaster scenario designed to validate U.S. Northern Command's CBRN Response Enterprise's ability to exercise short-notice and no-notice deployment of military forces at the request of civil authorities to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and mitigate property damage following a catastrophic CBRN event.

As the polar ice caps melt, the Earth actually slows down, California scientists say.

Less ice at the Earth's poles and more water weight spread around to other places are leading to the planet slowing down.

"Human activity has changed the rotation of the Earth," University of California, San Diego geophysics Professor Duncan Agnew said.

Earth's rotation has been speeding up slightly for decades, but changes are unfolding.

"That trend slowed, turned around, and is now going in the other direction," Agnew said. "That's all because of the effect of global warming."

His study points out that we may have to subtract a so-called leap second from our atomic clocks because of the slowing planet. That would be a pain for satellites, financial and energy systems that rely on precise timing.

"We've never had a negative leap second before," Agnew said. "It's hard enough synchronizing computers when you add a second, but nobody's prepared to do what's necessary when you have to have a negative second."

Another round of severe storms is expected in Oklahoma on Saturday, with the risk upgrading overnight and a tornado watch already in effect for counties in the western part of the state.

The tornado watch is for a round of morning storms, but multiple waves of storms are expected throughout the day. KOCO 5 Meteorologist Sabrina Bates says she expects more severe watches to be issued later.

The risk for severe weather has upgraded. A good portion of the state ranging from Lawton to the OKC metro, Stillwater, Tulsa and Bartlesville is under a level-four moderate risk.

Sabrina says the upgrade is because there is a better likelihood of seeing strong to significant severe weather, especially strong tornadoes. The threat of severe storms decreases outside of that moderate-risk area, but there could be tornadoes in the lower-risk parts of the state.

The threat of severe weather across Nebraska and Iowa is not done this weekend after Friday saw more than 80 preliminary tornado reports across the two states.

Another round of severe storms is likely near and south of the Interstate 80 corridor Saturday afternoon and evening.

Contrail, also called condensation trail or vapour trail, streamer of cloud sometimes observed behind an airplane flying in clear cold humid air. It forms upon condensation of water vapour produced by the combustion of fuel in airplane engines. When the ambient relative humidity is high, the resulting ice-crystal plume may last several hours. The trail may be distorted by the winds, and sometimes it spreads outward to form a layer of cirrus cloud. On rare occasions, when the air is nearly saturated with water vapour, air circulation at the wing tips of an airplane may cause

Omaha’s Eppley Airfield tells 6 News the airport sustained some damage after a tornado touched down during Friday’s severe weather.

The Omaha Airport Authority says the tornado touched down at 5:08 p.m. Passengers waiting in the terminal were placed in shelters for safety.
Jacob Dahl sent us this photo of the tornado that hit Eppley Airfield on Friday.

According to FlightRadar24 the Doomsday Plane took off from Offutt at !2:28 am and landed at Andrews AFB at 2:11 am this morning before any severe weather hit Omaha,NE.

The Air Force has awarded Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) a $13 billion contract to deliver a replacement for the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane, the service announced tonight.

The contract for the new Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) is expected to run through July 2036, according to the announcement. The program will replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of four E-4B planes, known as Nightwatch or the National Airborne Operations Center, which typically transport the Defense Secretary but can also act as a mobile nuclear command and control outpost.

Sullivan, known online as "Jayden X" and "Activist John," was convicted of multiple felonies for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
A federal judge Friday sentenced Utah activist John Earle Sullivan to six years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Judge Royce C. Lamberth also sentenced Sullivan to 36 months supervised release about $2,500 in fees and restitution.

A jury last year convicted Sullivan of seven counts. That includes three charges related to carrying a weapon — a knife — and counts accusing him of interrupting Congress as it voted to certify the U.S. presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021.

Sullivan, 29, was one of the first people arrested after the riots and the first Utah riot defendant to take his case to trial. With an online presence known as Jayden X and Insurgence USA, Sullivan was a fixture at social justice protests in Utah in the summer of 2020.

Sullivan, testifying in his own defense, has maintained he went to the Capitol because he believed there would be a violent effort to stop the certification and he wanted to film the altercations. Court records say he sold his video footage to news outlets for $90,000.

But prosecuted used Sullivan’s own videos and words against him. He was heard on recordings encouraging the mob, at one point telling rioters, “I have a knife. I have a knife. Let me up.”

A tornado hit northwest Omaha including Elkhorn Friday afternoon and left a trail of destruction.

Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said “many houses are flattened and many houses also have significant damage.”

Fortunately no major injuries were reported but two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.

The Omaha Fire Department will be conducting detailed searches of the neighborhoods hit throughout the night Friday. Chief Bossman said crews are facing several obstacles including power lines down, gas leaks, unstable structures and trees down.

“We understand the impact of this event on our community.” Bossman said. “We understand numerous families are going to be devastated by the destruction of their property.”

A reunification site has been set up for families at Elkhorn Middle School.

Chief Schmaderer said several private planes at Eppley Airfield were also damaged. The Omaha Airport Authority said the terminal was unaffected but some damage was reported on the east side of the property involving some buildings in the General Aviation area. No injuries were reported, and the airport reopened for normal operations just before 6 p.m.

A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, demolishing homes as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. It wasn’t yet clear if anyone was injured or killed in the storm.

Multiple tornadoes were reported in Nebraska but the most destructive storm moved from a largely rural area into suburbs northwest of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people.

Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes with roofs stripped of shingles, in a rural area near Omaha. Law enforcement were blocking off roads in the area.

Few details were immediately available. Nebraska Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Katrina Sperl said damage is just now being reported.

The Weather Service also issued tornado watches across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. And forecasters warned that large hail and damaging wind gusts were possible.

That is more than double the number of deaths reported two weeks ago as the amount of rainfall increases, especially in the coastal region and the capital, Dar es Salaam.

Karimi Qudousi: Experts have told us that we need "half a day" to produce 90% uranium, which is the main fuel for a nuclear warhead.

Iranian military commanders and high-ranking officials have warned they could change their approach in developing the country’s nuclear programme after increasing tensions with Israel, implicitly announcing their readiness to take it into a military phase.

Before the recent direct military confrontation with Israel, Iran had always insisted that its nuclear programme solely had peaceful goals. This stance dramatically changed in recent weeks.

Javad Karimi Qudousi, a member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, on Monday implicitly claimed that Iran was only one week away from its first nuclear weapon test.

The lawmaker wrote on X: "If the order is issued, it will be one week before the first test."

Karimi Qudousi did not mention Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but such an order would come from supreme leader who has a final say in all matters in Iran.

On Tuesday, in two videos posted on X, he stressed that the targets of Iran’s potential military nuclear programme would not only be Israel but also European countries supporting Tel Aviv.

Moreover, hours after the Israeli attack on an air force base in Isfahan last Friday, Ahmad Haqtalab, the commander of the Nuclear Centers Protection and Security Corps, suggested the same idea.

"It is possible and conceivable to revise the nuclear doctrine and policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and deviate from previous considerations," he was quoted as saying.

On Monday, the Javan daily, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), highlighted Haqtalab’s remarks, adding "Israel has taken this threat seriously and retreated from their [aggressive] stances.”

Parts of Paraguay were inundated with heavy rain on Wednesday, April 24, as thunderstorms moved across the country.

Satellite imagery released by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) shows “slowly moving thunderstorms” sweeping across the country.

More than 100 mm (about four inches) of rainwater accumulated in Paraguay’s capital city and several other areas, Ultima Hora reported, citing a weather official.

Speaking this week to Irish public broadcaster RT? News, on Wednesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) suggested the protests against President Biden where he is touted as “Genocide Joe,” have “a Russian tinge.” Pelosi added, “It’s in Putin’s interest for ‘What’s His Name’ to win, and therefore I see some encouragement on the part of the Russians.”

“What’s His Name” is currently running neck and neck with Biden, with a clear advantage in the swing states.

Pelosi said she “saw the danger” of Russia during her visit to Ukraine two years ago, noting that “The other countries that border Ukraine, whether they are in NATO or not, are concerned about the aggression of Russia and the ambition of Putin.”

Classic clownery at the UN Security Council:

The United States and Japan have prepared a draft UN Security Council resolution calling on countries not to develop nuclear weapons for deployment in outer space.

Russia and China proposed an amendment that would have permanently banned the placement of any weapons in space. This amendment was opposed by the USA, France and Great Britain.

After this, the US Permanent Representative to the UN entered the arena and stated that she had recently arrived from Nagasaki, which survived the atomic bombing. And she accused Russia of resorting to nuclear rhetoric over the past couple of years.

Does the US Permanent Representative even remember who bombed Nagasaki?

Russia will make NATO nuclear weapons in Poland one of its primary targets if they are deployed there, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov declared today in the latest escalation of tensions between Moscow and Europe. The comments came after Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday said his nation would be ready to host Western nukes, given Russia's decision to station intercontinental ballistic missiles in neighbouring Belarus late last year.

President Andrzej Duda said in an interview for "Fakt" that "if our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of Nuclear Sharing also on our territory to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready for it." Prime Minister Donald Tusk, referring to this statement on Monday, said that he was waiting for a meeting with Andrzej Duda because "this matter directly and very clearly concerns Polish security." - And I would have to understand the president's intentions well - he added. The president announced that he would meet with the head of government on this matter.

BELARUS has moved its battle-ready forces closer to Poland's border in a chilling move against the West.

President Aleksandr Lukashenko also warned that a rising standoff against his nation and ally Vlad's Russia could result in a nuclear "apocalypse".
Western countries intend to drag Belarus into war. This was stated by the country's President Alexander Lukashenko. According to him, Europe and engaged international structures do not want to take into account the positions of Belarus and Russia in the security sphere. Lukashenko called on the West not to push Minsk to take asymmetrical measures in response to ongoing threats. Our news on social networks

A video highlighting Maj. Servando Santiago, commander of the 555th Engineer Brigade, and Task Force Operations during a training exercise for a scenario Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear attack during a training exercise on Fort Carson, Colorado on April 25, 2024. Vibrant Response is an annual U.S. Northern Command-directed command post-exercise. As U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North is Vibrant Response 24's executive agent responsible for ensuring the training focuses on a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) disaster scenario designed to validate U.S. Northern Command's CBRN Response Enterprise's ability to exercise short-notice and no-notice deployment of military forces at the request of civil authorities to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and mitigate property damage following a catastrophic CBRN event.

Iran's enrichment of uranium and a lack of access to international monitors is fueling suspicions about its nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its committed to promoting dialogue with Tehran

At least 700 illegal Israeli settlers invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Jerusalem on Thursday morning, amid the Jewish Passover holiday.

“So far, 700 extremists have stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in successive and provocative groups,” the Islamic Endowments Authority in Jerusalem said.

The endowments authority added that the incursion also occurred under “strict measures and restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers by the occupation police.”

Since the first day of Passover, which began on Monday evening and lasts for a week, hundreds of illegal settlers have been storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque daily under tight police guard, causing severe tension in various parts of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Nearly 704 illegal settlers stormed Al-Aqsa on Wednesday. Right-wing Israeli extremist groups have previously called for widespread incursions into the mosque on the occasion of Passover.

Palestinians argue that Israel is intensifying rapid measures to Judaize Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.

Passover, which commemorates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt during the time of Prophet Moses, is considered one of the most important holidays on the Jewish religious calendar.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed illegal settlers into the flashpoint compound almost on a daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.