Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, the largest airport serving the region, was briefly closed Friday so officials could do a damage assessment, according to a post on X.An American Red Cross shelter has been opened in Elkhorn. And Leia Baez, communications director for Douglas County, said there were no serious injuries or fatalities from the tornadoes in Elkhorn, Bennington and Waterloo but many homes were severely damaged, displacing residents. “First responders are out assessing the needs at this time,” Londo told CNN. Alex Londo, Shelby County’s emergency coordinator said there has been substantial property damage. Shelby and Douglas County emergency management officials in Nebraska said they have received no reports of severe injuries from Friday’s storms.“Most homes in this immediate area have suffered significant damage and it’s likely going to be a long clean up effort.”

“Some houses have been swept and no longer exist,” Thomas Hinterdorfer told CNN.

One storm chaser described a “very devastating situation” after a tornado barreled through Elkhorn.

People had warned of this, which saved lives, in our opinion.”

“We think injuries were so little because the warning systems in the City of Omaha and Douglas County were highly effective,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said. “We were not hit with a sudden storm. Two people were transported for medical treatment with minor injuries. The area is grappling with power outages, gas leaks, toppled trees, and unstable structures. In Elkhorn, an area on the edge of Omaha, first responders are still combing through the wreckage left behind by the tornado, searching through flattened homes for anyone trapped or injured, local authorities announced at a Friday news conference.An overturned tractor-trailer, blown over by the storms, brought traffic to a slow crawl on the interstate, traffic cameras showed. On Friday, a tornado roared through the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska, tearing the roofs off homes and crossing part of I-80 in the process.Tornado warnings were in effect for portions of the Des Moines metro area as of 9:45 p.m. In a tweet, the Republican governor said the proclamation was to support storm recovery efforts in the town of Minden. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Pottawattamie County in response to Friday’s severe weather.Three of those hail reports were at least 2 inches in diameter, approximately lime-sized. In addition to tornado warnings, there have been 19 damaging wind reports and 45 hail reports from Friday’s severe weather outbreak. ET, making today the busiest day for tornadoes in the US in more than a year. The National Weather Service had received at least 60 reports of tornadoes in at least five states as of 9:30 p.m. Storms began in parts of the Plains and South early Friday afternoon.

Devastating tornadoes are tearing across parts of eastern Nebraska and Iowa on Friday as a multiday severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.

Channel 5 meteorologist