🌪️ Catastrophic destruction after massive tornado touched down shreading homes near Omaha airport

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.