Omaha airport takes significant damage from EF-2 tornado

Tornado destroys parts of Omaha's Eppley Airfield as passengers take shelter

At Omaha's Eppley Airfield, flight passengers had to take shelter as a tornado touched down at the airport. The airfield was closed about 5 p.m., and passengers were kept safe, while some general aviation buildings suffered damage. No one was injured, and flights resumed in less than an hour.

OMAHA, Neb. — Several buildings at Omaha’s airport facility suffered significant damage as a tornado roared across the airfield Friday, but luckily no one was injured.

As Tornado Warnings blared across eastern Nebraska during Friday's tornado outbreak, officials at Omaha’s Eppley Field instructed passengers in the terminal to take shelter in their designated storm shelters.

Airport weather observers sighted a funnel cloud just before 5 p.m. CDT and closed down airport operations a few minutes later.  

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The twister swirled into the sprawling air field and while it missed the passenger terminal, it took a direct strike on several general aviation buildings on the east side of the airport, officials said. The tornado's funnel was visible to airport weather observers for a full 35 minutes.

Video from the scene showed multiple planes damaged amid the twisted metal of former buildings and debris spread across hundreds of yards. Officials haven’t given an estimate on damage costs or said what all was damaged.

With the passenger terminal still intact, airport operations resumed just under an hour later.

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While airport operations returned to normal, several other neighborhoods near Omaha were still reeling from the storm’s impacts. Several homes suffered significant damage in the Omaha suburb of Elkhorn.

"This is catastrophic damage that we're talking about here," said FOX Weather correspondent Nicole Valdes, who was on the ground Saturday in Elkhorn. "You can only imagine not only what this looks like now, but the fear of the families who may have been inside some of these homes, as they probably had to duck for shelter as the roof came crashing down above them."

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Homes decimated in Elkhorn, NE after monstrous, violent tornado

A tornado ripped through parts of Nebraska on Friday, causing widespread destruction in its wake. FOX Weather correspondent Nicole Valdes is on the ground in the Omaha suburb of Elkhorn, where the damage is catastrophic and the town is almost unrecognizable.

A storm survey team from the National Weather Service inspected damage on Saturday and determined the tornado that crossed through the airport was likely an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with winds upwards of 135 mph.

Local officials estimated damage to be in the many millions of dollars, but operations continue to be normal at the main airport terminal.