Iowa
Residents begin going through the rubble after tornadoes hammer parts of Nebraska and Iowa
OMAHA, Neb. — Residents began sifting through the rubble Saturday after a tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, demolishing homes and businesses as it moved for miles through farmland and into subdivisions.
People gathered in the streets in the Elkhorn area of Omaha amid the scattered remains of the homes and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen planned to tour the area then hold a news conference later Saturday in Omaha.
The Friday night tornadoes wreaked havoc in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes.
There have been several reports of injuries but no fatalities reported.
Three people were hurt in Nebraska’s Lancaster County when a tornado hit an industrial building, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated and the injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One of the most destructive tornadoes moved for miles Friday through mostly rural farmland before chewing up homes and other structures in the suburbs of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan area population of about 1 million.
Photos on social media also showed heavy damage in the small town of Minden, Iowa, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha.
Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, said at a late Friday briefing that 40 to 50 homes had been completely destroyed. Two injuries were reported but none were life-threatening.
School buses have been brought in to give residents a ride out of town if they need one, he said. He asked others to stay away as it’s a very dangerous area with power lines down and piles of debris where homes used to be.
“It’s heartbreaking to see these people who have lost houses, cars, essentially their life until they have to rebuild it,” he said.
The forecast for Saturday was ominous. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches early Saturday for northwestern Texas and across western Oklahoma.
“Tornadoes, perhaps significant tornadoes,” were possible Saturday afternoon and evening, said weather service meteorologist Bruce Thoren in Norman, Okla.
The threat of tornadoes extended into parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. Forecasters warned that large hail and strong wind gusts were also possible.
Hundreds of houses were damaged in Omaha on Friday, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city, Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said and police and firefighters went door-to-door to help people.
In one area of Elkhorn, dozens of newly built, large homes were damaged. At least six were wrecked, including one that was leveled, while others had their top halves ripped off. Dozens of emergency vehicles responded to the area.
“We watched it touch down like 200 yards over there and then we took shelter,” said Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn. “We could hear it coming through. When we came up, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighborhood’s gone.”
Kim Woods, his wife, added, “The whole neighborhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened.”
Three people, including a child, were in the basement of the leveled home when the tornado hit but got out safely, according to Dhaval Naik, who said he works with home’s owner.
KETV-TV video showed one woman being removed from a demolished home on a stretcher in Blair, a city just north of Omaha.
Two people were transported for treatment, both with minor injuries, Bonacci said.
“People had warnings of this and that saved lives,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said of the few serious injuries.
The tornado warning was issued in the Omaha area on Friday afternoon just as children were due to be released from school. Many schools had students shelter in place until the storm passed.
“Was it one long track tornado or was it several tornadoes?” Kern of the National Weather Service asked.
The agency planned to send out multiple crews over the next several days to determine the number of tornadoes and their strength, which could take up to two weeks, she said.
Another tornado hit an area on the eastern edge of Omaha, passing directly through parts of Eppley Airfield, the city’s airport. Officials halted aircraft operations to access damage but then reopened the facility, Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy said.
The passenger terminal was not hit by the tornado but people rushed to storm shelters until the twister passed, McCoy said.
After passing through the airport, the tornado crossed the Missouri River and into Iowa, north of Council Bluffs.
In Lancaster County, where three people were injured when an industrial building collapsed, sheriff’s officials also said they had reports of a tipped-over train near Waverly, Nebraska.
The Omaha Public Power District reported nearly 10,000 customers were without power in the Omaha area. The number had dropped to just more than 4,300 Saturday morning.
Pillen, the Nebraska governor, posted on the social platform X that he had ordered state resources to be made available to help with the emergency response and to support first responders as they assess the damage.
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.
The Iowa chapter of the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) officially opened a new facility on its 80-acre demonstration farm in Marshall County Thursday.
Iowa LICA President Scott Bohle said having classroom and meeting space will make it easier to educate the next generation of professional contractors, along with government employees, lawmakers and students, to help conserve soil and water in the state.
Bohle said the building “gives people a place to gather, collaborate and continue the important work that defines our association.”
Just outside the new space are wetlands, terraces, sediment control basins, bioreactors and other features, which members have built since LICA purchased the farm near Melbourne in 2000.
“We call it the one-stop shop, where you can see anything being put to practice by our landowners,” said Kelby Kiefer, executive director of Iowa LICA.
Together, these “edge-of-field” practices remove 50% of phosphates and almost 100% of the nitrates from the runoff of a 1,000-plus acre watershed, according to the association.
Adding more wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors across the state are a key part of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It aims to cut nitrogen and phosphorus losses from farm fields by 41% and 29%, respectively.
The strategy is part of a broader effort to reduce nutrient pollution in the state’s waterways and the Gulf of Mexico by 45% compared to the 1980-96 baseline period. It does not include a target date.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the state has accelerated edge-of-field practices in recent years, in part through the Batch and Build model. The approach bundles projects in a targeted watershed to reduce costs and save time for farmers and contractors.
Nearly 150 nitrate reducing wetlands and around 500 saturated buffers, bioreactors and multi-purpose oxbows had been built in the state as of 2024. Thousands more will be needed to meet the state’s nutrient reduction targets.
“[Clean water is] something we need to be focused on, and we can be proud of the work that’s happened, but we know that we need to do more,” Naig said. “Buildings like this help.”
Naig said scaling up conservation infrastructure across the state will require more skilled contractors. He described them as the “critical link” between concepts and “getting things on the ground.”
“It’s from that point where you say, ‘We have a design that’s ready to go, a willing landowner,’ but somebody needs to make it happen,” Naig said. “The land improvement contractor sits in that very important spot.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Mark Roering returned to Iowa City Regina 30 years after serving as an assistant coach, and in just two seasons, he has transformed the Regals into one of Class 2A’s most dangerous teams.
“I was a senior in college. I just had finished playing baseball myself and was doing high school in the summers. Had one of those magical seasons here losing in the state finals,” Roering said. “I was just ready for something new.”
Prior to being hired at Iowa City Regina in 2024, Roering coached nine seasons at Dowling Catholic, where he helped the Maroons reach the state tournament six times. Regina was below .500 in three of the four seasons before his arrival. His first season at the helm, Regina went 22-6.
“I think the biggest difference is practice. Everybody is so much more locked in. Really that just comes from him. He gets on us everyday, he has to make the drive and hour and a half every day so we want to give that back to him for all the time and effort he’s put into us,” junior Trey Streb said.
Streb also described Roering as a very emotional coach who cares deeply about the team and winning.
The Regals’ bats have become a significant threat. Regina ranks fifth in the state and second in Class 2A with a .379 batting average and has the fourth fewest strikeouts among state teams.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced and it’s been super competitive and it’s nice to be with people who want to win and will do whatever it takes to win,” senior Emmett Burke said.
The team already sits at 20 wins with eight regular season games remaining.
Roering said the transformation comes when players start believing they can win in any situation.
“Winning is contagious just like losing is contagious,” Roering said. “Kids they start believing and it gets really dangerous you know that they can win no matter what situation they’re in.”
The turnaround has positioned the Regals to make a postseason run. With only one senior on the roster, the team could remain a threat next season.
“No matter what, we’re going to fight and we’re not going to roll over. We’re going to do what we need to do to win,” Burke said.
“We’re big competitors. We don’t accept defeat and I think that’s one of my favorite parts about this team,” Streb added.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) -Water and wastewater utility rates in Iowa City will increase starting July 1, following a city council decision on May 19.
The water utility rate will increase by 3%, while the wastewater rate will increase by 5%.
The increases are part of a funding model to help recover the costs of providing water and wastewater services to Iowa City residents.
The new rates will take effect in tandem with Iowa City’s 2027 fiscal year and apply to customers served by the Iowa City Water Division and the Iowa City Wastewater Division.
The city said the rate adjustment supports its continued provision of safe and reliable water service.
To learn more about the city’s utilities, visit their website.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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