VIENNA, Austria — A rural Cass County teenager who’s waited more than a year to see Taylor Swift in a concert overseas has had her hopes dashed, along with hundreds of thousands of others after shows there were canceled over a terror threat.

Nora Severance, 17, a senior this fall at Northern Cass High School, secured tickets for her family to the Eras Tour stop in Vienna, Austria, back in June 2023.

She, her mother and 19-year-old brother arrived there Tuesday night in advance of the show set for Thursday, Aug. 8, while her father stayed back to work on the farm.

The family learned late Wednesday night that the Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at Ernst Happel Stadium would not go on because of an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack outside of the concert venue.

Nora Severance woke up the next morning to a flurry of texts from her friends, wondering what was going on.

“I think it was the right call,” she said of the cancellation in a Thursday night phone call from Vienna.

Nicole Severance was asked how she conversed with her children about the terror threat.

“Sadly, it’s something that they’ve grown up with their whole life, and so it’s just kind of a daily thing,” she said.

There was also a feeling of resignation about the concert cancellation.

“We can’t control everything,” she said.

A 19-year old man from Austria was arrested over the alleged plot to strike the Swift concert and made a full confession in custody,

Reuters reported.

The man swore allegiance to the Islamic State on the internet and had chemicals, technical devices and machetes at his home, said Franz Ruf, Austria’s general director for public security.

Two other Austrian youths aged 17 and 15 were also detained over the reported plot.

The 17-year-old had recently been hired at a company providing services at the stadium, according to security officials.

The three shows in Vienna were expected to draw 65,000 concertgoers each day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans gathering outside of the area, police said.

Coincidentally, the family toured Schönbrunn Palace on Wednesday, a former royal residence visited by thousands of people daily.

Nora Severance said it was weird that there were no metal detectors and their bags were not searched.

“We had that conversation yesterday, right prior to this being canceled,” her mother said.

Nora Severance said she was looking forward to arriving at the stadium early Thursday night in order to trade the friendship bracelets she had made and to meet new people.

The first and last time she saw Taylor Swift in concert,

she was just eight years old.

Her mother had entered a sweepstakes and won free tickets and meet-and-greet access to the superstar on her

“1989” world tour stop at the Fargodome in October 2015.

Calling it a “really good experience,” the teenager said, “that’s kind of what made me start to listen to her music more and want to see her again.”

Her mom said she doesn’t consider herself a “Swiftie” but appreciates the positive messages that Swift brings to young girls through her music.

The family originally sought Swift concert tickets in the U.S., for Minneapolis or Kansas City, but they sold out quickly and resale ticket prices were far too expensive.

“It just financially made more sense to fly to Europe and make a trip out of it,” Nora Severance said.

They went for the Austria tour stop because it was one of the first European dates to go on sale.

The family secured standing tickets on the floor at the Vienna stadium for the original asking price of $100 apiece.

By comparison, the cheapest resale ticket prices for upcoming U.S. dates are going for around $2,500 a piece for “nosebleed” seats, Nora Severance said.

Swift’s next stop is Thursday, Aug. 15, at Wembley Stadium in London, where she has five shows scheduled.

People with tickets to the Vienna shows will be refunded within 10 business days, according to Swift’s website.

Nora Severance said her family will be in Europe for another 10 days, traveling to Hungary and Switzerland.

“We had things planned, thankfully, so we’ll make the best of it,” she said.

Vehicles are trapped on roadways as flash flooding sweeps across Northeast Ohio Thursday evening.

Flash Flood Warnings are in effect for several communities across NEO this evening

As of 9:40 p.m., I-76/US-224 is experiencing this flooding in both directions for about 0.8 miles beyond Barber Road. The road is closed in both directions.

Expect closures and plan an alternate route.

Barberton Police and Norton Police are responding to I-76 at Summit Road for a report of multiple vehicles trapped in the roadway due to the flooding.

State Route 82 East at Hadden Road is also flooded, and the Ohio Department of Transportation said to expect lanes to be closed.

In Akron, Mayor Shammas Malik posted on X, advising residents to avoid the following areas due to flooding:

• Cuyahoga Street
• Merriman Valley
• Memorial Parkway
• Weathervane

Malik said to avoid any flooded areas and to not attempt to drive through them.
News 5 has a crew heading to the scene on I-76, and this story will be updated as more information is learned.

Click here to see the latest traffic information and an interactive traffic map on our Akron-Canton Traffic Center

Click here to see the cheapest gas prices in our area.

Nearly seven weeks after the devastating June 23 flood at McCook Lake, victims are still in limbo about the possibility of federal aid, and some feel abandoned by government officials.

Renae Hansen is a flood victim and works with the McCook Lake Izaak Walton League, which has tried to fill some of the leadership and organizational gaps in the flood response.

“We have no idea what’s happening or what to expect,” Hansen said. “It feels like we’re being kept in the dark.”

The flood destroyed or severely damaged at least 40 homes and some infrastructure in the McCook Lake area. Some flood victims — including some who lack flood insurance — are staying in hotels or with family or friends as they wait for news about possible help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

Hansen also described the confusion and lack of coordination on the ground in McCook Lake, noting that the Izaak Walton League was filling recovery roles beyond its expertise because no other institution was doing it. She recently moved away from that effort to resume handling the organization’s primary obligations. 

“We were just trying to help,” she said. “But we didn’t have any official support or direction. We had volunteers trying to log damages without any guidance from the city or state.”

FEMA wait explained

Some residents expressed their frustration about the wait for federal assistance on Monday during a North Sioux City Council meeting. More than a month passed between the flood and Republican Governor Kristi Noem’s July 26 request to the president for a major disaster declaration, and there has been no word yet on a presidential declaration that would trigger FEMA aid.

Hansen wants to know why it took that long and is calling for more state action.

“We have residents on the brink of homelessness,” Hansen said. “We need answers, but we also need support.”

‘We have nothing’: Flood victims say government failures continue after botched flood warning

In Iowa, which also experienced flooding from the same historically heavy rainstorms in late June, President Joe Biden approved that state’s disaster declaration on June 24. However, Iowa had already been working with FEMA regarding other storms that began on June 16. 

Tony Mayne is a media relations specialist with the FEMA Region 8 Office. He said South Dakota took the “standard” route for its disaster declaration, and Iowa chose the “expedited” route. 

“South Dakota determined the process that would be best for the state,” he said.

Mayne said the expedited route is for disasters where officials are confident they know the extent of the damages — because if an overestimation is submitted, the state pays the difference. Mayne did not speak for the state of South Dakota but said flood damage across the 25 affected counties varies widely in comparison to McCook Lake.

“Sure, damage to that one area is obvious,” he said. “It’s not just that one area.” 

In response to questions about the process from South Dakota Searchlight, Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury, pointed to a previous press release comment by Kristi Turman, director of the Division of Emergency Services at the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

“This thorough damage assessment was normal protocol for a presidential disaster declaration,” Turman said, “and it’s an important part of the process to make sure all eligible counties and citizens are included.”

As flood victims wait on assistance, some contractors who assisted with the flood preparations and response are being paid. During the North Sioux City Council meeting, council members approved several pay requests for the flood, including a $59,000 payment to The Blue Cell, a contractor based in Colorado. North Sioux City’s mayor said state officials advised hiring Blue Cell to help manage the disaster. Todd Manns, Blue Cell’s owner, did not respond to an interview request.

Noem: ‘Everything we can to help’

Hours before the McCook Lake flood on June 23, Noem held a press conference in North Sioux City where neither she nor any of the other public officials in attendance expressed any grave concerns about McCook Lake, even though a record crest was already projected on the nearby Big Sioux River. 

The main focus of the press conference was a voluntary evacuation order for nearby Dakota Dunes and the construction of a temporary levee, which neither Noem nor anyone else at the press conference clearly explained was intended to divert water toward McCook Lake. Authorities hoped water wouldn’t reach the lake and assumed that if it did, the lake would swell manageably, and excess water would drain toward the Missouri River. Instead, floodwaters slammed into the lake on the evening of June 23 and caused catastrophic damage.

Following the June 23 afternoon press conference, Noem flew to a speaking engagement for a county Republican Party fundraiser in Tennessee while the floodwaters ravaged McCook Lake that night. 

From June 23 to 27, Noem shared over a dozen posts on her personal X (formerly Twitter) profile, mostly about the southeastern South Dakota flooding. Two linked to videos of press conferences that have since been deleted. Posts show she visited the region in that timeframe. 

“My heart goes out to the families on McCook Lake whose homes were destroyed by this flooding,” she shared. “We’ll keep doing everything we can to help with the situation.”

“Everything” did not include deploying the National Guard, which Noem declined to do.

McCook Lake catastrophe shatters complacency around old flood plans

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined Noem in McCook Lake to survey the devastation days after the flood. “I am going to do everything I can to get assistance to our communities ASAP and help these families start to recover their lives,” Noem wrote in posts featuring photos with Criswell.

South Dakota U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson told South Dakota Searchlight on Wednesday that he thinks FEMA aid will be approved soon.

“This is a no-brainer,” said Johnson, a Republican. “This is not a close call. This was a devastating event.”

However, Mayne, the spokesperson for FEMA, said the agency can’t do much for the people who lost their homes. FEMA’s Individual Assistance program is designed to meet basic needs and help households recover, but it typically covers only essential expenses such as temporary housing and minor repairs.

“We’re not going to make you whole, we’re not going to rebuild your house,” he said, advising residents to turn to local organizations and nonprofits. 

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said it’s unlikely the congressional delegation will be able to secure federal funding beyond the FEMA aid. 

“We’ll look at what other options might be out there, but it’s going to be challenging,” he said.