Residents in a small western Nebraska town were clearing away tree and building debris Tuesday after a suspected tornado tore through the town but injured no one.
The storm struck Bayard around 7:10 p.m. on June 12, tearing the roof off a city-owned nursing home and damaging several homes.
Utility crews were trying to restore power to an estimated 80 percent of Bayard, which has about 1,200 residents and sits in the central Nebraska Panhandle, 380 miles west of Omaha.
Neighbors were helping neighbors with the cleanup, said Mayor Michelle Coolidge.
“People are trying to make quick, light work of it,” she said.
The storm felled trees and power lines all over town, and water supplies are low because city wells lacked the power to pump, Coolidge said.
The 45 residents at the nursing home, Chimney Rock Villa, were evacuated to the high school, which was turned into a temporary shelter despite losing a portion of its roof over the wood shop. The mayor said the residents have since gone home with relatives or been temporarily housed at other area nursing homes.
Damaged homes and agricultural buildings and dead livestock were reported north of Bayard. Coolidge said semitrailers were blown over on nearby highways, but the drivers weren’t hurt. A regional emergency services official didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
The National Weather Service was expected to dispatch a survey team to Bayard to check the damage and confirm whether a tornado caused it.
Heavy rain and hail also was reported in the area and earlier Monday in eastern Nebraska.
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