Storms kill 1, injure another and displace hundreds of inmates in Nebraska
The Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department was called to Two Rivers state park just before 7 a.m. Saturday, where first responders found a vehicle crushed by a large cottonwood tree. The tree had toppled as the storm brought gusts higher than 80 mph (129 kph) to the area, according to the National Weather Service. A woman in the vehicle was declared dead at the scene, while a man was trapped inside, the fire department said in a news release.
It took firefighters about 90 minutes to free the man because of the size and weight of the tree, the department said. Once free, the man was taken to an Omaha hospital with life-threatening injuries, Waterloo Fire Chief Travis Harlow said.
The state park — a popular camping spot — is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of Omaha's western border.
High winds caused widespread damage across eastern Nebraska, toppling trees, damaging roofs and pulling down electrical lines. About 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Omaha in Blair, the roof of a warehouse was torn open by high winds. Thousands of people were left without power in the immediate aftermath.
In the state capital of Lincoln, the storms damaged two housing units at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, displacing 387 prisoners, the state Department of Correctional Services said in a statement.
'There are no reported injuries, and all staff and incarcerated individuals are safe and accounted for,' the agency said.
Strong storms also moved through parts of eastern Wisconsin on Saturday, bringing gusts of 60 mph (97 kph) to the state's Door Peninsula, the National Weather Service said.
The weather service said more strong storms were possible across the nation's midsection Saturday night into Sunday, stretching from western Colorado into Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, northern Missouri and into Illinois and Wisconsin.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Flash flood in Indian Kashmir leaves dozens dead and at least 200 missing
At least 37 people have died and more than 200 are missing after a sudden rainstorm in Indian Kashmir, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident in the town of Chashoti, Kishtwar district, occurred at a stopover point on a pilgrimage route. Days earlier, a flood and mudslide engulfed a village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, according to an official. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' they said. The Machail Yatra trail is a popular route up to the high-altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, which honours the Hindu goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chashoti, where the road for vehicles ends. 'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving,' said Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told ANI news agency, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. 'Army air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of more than 100mm (4in) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar. It urged residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
At least 44 dead and dozens missing after flash flooding in Indian Himalayas
At least 44 people have been killed after flash flooding hit a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Initial estimates suggest at least 50 people are still missing in the devastated Himalayan village of Chasoti, in the Jammu and Kashmir region, according to local officials. Rescue teams have brought 200 people to safety, they added. Chasoti, around 85 miles (136km) northeast of Jammu, is the last village accessible to vehicles on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine, the Machail Mata temple. The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen, where more than 200 pilgrims were gathered, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes, officials said. Abdul Majeed Bichoo, a local resident from a neighbouring village, said he witnessed the bodies of eight people being pulled out from under the mud. The 75-year-old said Chasoti had become a "sight of complete devastation from all sides". "It was heartbreaking and an unbearable sight," he continued. "I have not seen this kind of destruction of life and property in my life." India's deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by torrential rains. Sudden, intense downpours over small areas - known as cloudbursts - are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions, which are prone to flash floods and landslides. Last week, floodwater crashed through an entire Himalayan village in India's Uttarakhand state. 1:24 Television footage showed pilgrims in Chasoti crying in fear as water flooded the village. At least 50 of the rescued people were badly injured and were being treated in local hospitals, local official Susheel Kumar Sharma said. Officials said the Hindu pilgrimage, which began in July and was scheduled to end on 5 September, has been suspended. More rescue teams were on the way to the area, they added. Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Mr Kumar said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the situation is being monitored closely" and offered his prayers to "all those affected by the cloudburst and flooding." Cloudbursts can cause intense flooding and landslides, and have increased in recent years, partly due to climate change. Damage from the storms has also been exacerbated by unplanned development in mountain regions.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Firefighters battle a fast-moving blaze along a highway north of Los Angeles
Firefighters scrambled to control a fast-moving wildfire that erupted Thursday morning in hills along Interstate 5 in northwestern Los Angeles County, officials said. The King Fire has swiftly charred about 400 acres (162 hectares) of tinder-dry brush in a lightly populated area about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of downtown LA. An RV park was ordered to shelter in place and residents of remote homes were under evacuation warnings. The fire was 5% contained as of 6 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The California Highway Patrol closed some highway lanes as crews battled the flames. Off- and on-ramps were closed at Smokey Bear Road, along with several surrounding roads just north of Pyramid Lake in a mountainous area known for hiking and boating. The blaze is burning a few miles north of the Canyon Fire, which prompted evacuations, destroyed seven structures and injured three firefighters after breaking out Aug. 7. That fire was 97% contained Wednesday after charring about 8 square miles (22 square kilometers) of LA and Ventura counties. The Gifford Fire, California's largest blaze so far this year, has scorched at least 204 square miles (528 square kilometers) of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since erupting on Aug. 1. It was 41% contained on Wednesday.
