Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Deadly tornado all but wipes Nebraska village off the map

Just several blocks wide and home to roughly 350 people, Pilger took a direct hit from one of an estimated four tornadoes that the U.S. National Weather Service tracked across northeastern Nebraska on Monday afternoon.
At least one person, a 5-year-old child, was pronounced dead at an area hospital that also received more than a dozen others who were injured in Pilger, Stanton County Sheriff Michael Unger said in a press release. Another person in neighboring Cuming County also died. The circumstances of both deaths were not immediately known.
Brian Reeg, from the neighboring town of Winside, stood bewildered in a lot where nothing remained of his church but a pile of rubble. "I just came to see if I could help," he said, surveying the wreckage. "This is where I was baptized, where I was married and went to church my whole life."
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman declared a state of emergency for the stricken region. The state Emergency Management Agency said National Guard troops would be deployed to assist local authorities as cleanup efforts begin.
Storms also hit cities and communities in southern Wisconsin, smashing cars, windows, and trees, lifting a roof off a home, and cutting power to the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, officials and local media said on Tuesday.
The university said on its website that it would be closed on Tuesday due to extensive storm damage. "No major injuries have been reported, but some buildings sustained structural damage. Power is still out on campus and across much of the city."


A tornado touched down around New Glarus outside of Madison, and part of a roof was lying in the middle of a highway, a preliminary report from the Green County Sheriff's Office said.


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