Storm damage estimated at $3 million
Damage estimates don't include crop losses

Last modified at 12:43 a.m. on Sunday, October 14, 2001

POLK (AP) -- Damage estimates from tornadoes that hit Central Nebraska this week exceeded $3 million.

 Polk County suffered the most damage from Tuesday's storms, with an estimated loss of $1.5 million to $2 million, said deputy Matt Vickinovac of the Polk County Sheriff's Department.

 The four tornadoes destroyed one home and caused major damage to another. The twisters damaged dozens of farm outbuildings, equipment and 20 irrigation pivots. All told, 27 properties were affected, Vickinovac said.

 Nonetheless, storm victims, with help from friends and neighbors, largely had the county cleaned up by Friday evening.

 "Everybody pitched in and helped each other," Vickinovac said. "Today if you take the trees out of the picture and looked at the residences, it would be hard to tell a storm had gone through a couple days ago."

 Merrick County had $1.1 million in damage, said Sheriff Anthony McPhillips. Three separate tornadoes touched down in the county near Chapman, north of Central City and on the east edge of Silver Creek.

 One farm family about eight miles north of Central City suffered $750,000 in damages when the tornado ripped off the roof of their house and destroyed farm buildings and vehicles. Two miles to the north, the twister caused $150,000 in damage to another farmstead.

 At Silver Creek, a tornado damaged 13 houses, two businesses, the post office and the village park. The sheriff estimated the losses there at $195,000.

 It could have been much worse, McPhillips said.

 "We skated out pretty good because there were absolutely no injuries," he said.

 Hamilton County also sustained significant damage from the storm.

 Tim Hergenrader, a spokesman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, said the county reported a mobile home and $500,000-worth of irrigation pivots destroyed by the storm.

 None of the damage estimates included crop losses. Considering the hail that fell along with the high winds, Merrick County Farm Service Agency Director Shirley Peterson said she was expecting unharvested soybeans and corn to look worse.

 "The good news was the path of the tornado wasn't large and it wasn't long," she said.