Hail Rips Fields Near Holdrege 

BY TODD VON KAMPEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Farm fields near Holdrege, in south-central Nebraska, were shredded by hail Thursday evening, less than 24 hours after large hail and high wind pummeled the southeast Nebraska town of Firth and ruined crops in parts of three counties.

Corn and soybeans were pelted by hail between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in a five-mile-long stretch between Loomis and Atlanta, said Gary Hall, an extension educator for Phelps and Gosper Counties.

Authorities observed baseball-size hail and received an unconfirmed report of hailstones up to 4.5 inches wide. The storm developed quickly in late afternoon, Hall said.

"It pretty much devastated our soybean crop," he said. "Our corn crop got ripped up pretty good, but it may survive because the duration of the hail wasn't that long."

Emergency workers on Friday were wrapping up work in Firth, where 50-mph wind and hail up to 2.5 inches wide shattered hundreds of windows and dented and poked holes in buildings around 2 a.m. Thursday.

The hailstorm also damaged fields in an approximately 100-square-mile area of southern Lancaster, northern Gage and western Johnson Counties. Lt. Gov. Dave Maurstad toured Firth Friday and spoke with hailed-out farmers, said Chris Peterson, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Johanns.

A final count aided by ham-radio operators found damage to 148 Firth homes, several businesses, two churches and the Lakeview Rest Home, said Doug Ahlberg, Lancaster County's emergency management director.

All but two homeowners have enough insurance to repair their homes, and a Red Cross aid program should be able to help the others, he said.

But disaster aid may be limited to the crop insurance carried by hailed-out farmers, said Mark Wilke, a farm loan specialist with the USDA Farm Service Agency of Nebraska.

Gage, Lancaster and Johnson Counties were included in a federal drought disaster declaration issued last month. That qualified farmers for low-interest emergency loans for drought-related crop losses.

Wilke said a separate declaration would be needed to qualify hailed-out farmers for loans for lost crops and building and equipment damage. One or more crops in a county must suffer at least a 30 percent hail-related loss.

A preliminary survey of the three counties found hail damage to 34,500 acres of corn, 36,000 acres of soybeans and 14,000 acres of sorghum, Wilke said.

Hailed-out Gage County fields suffered yield losses estimated at 65 percent each for corn and soybeans and 45 percent for sorghum, he said. Lancaster County yield losses were pegged at 20 percent for corn, 30 percent for soybeans and 10 percent for sorghum. Yield losses in Johnson County averaged 50 percent per crop.

Phelps County also was included in June's drought disaster declaration, so little additional aid may be available for hail damage there, Hall said.

Hall said insurance adjusters were arriving in Phelps County Friday to take claims on damaged homes and cars in and near Holdrege. County Sheriff Thomas Nutt said the city received pea-sized to golf-ball-sized hail along with about 1 inch of rain.