|
Published Wednesday
Metro Area Buried by a Blitz of Hail BY SHANNON HENSON and VERONICA ROSMAN
Lightning, high winds and hail pelted the Midlands during
a lunch-hour storm Tuesday, causing injuries and damaging an Omaha greenhouse
and cars throughout the area.
The hardest-hit areas appeared to be Council Bluffs, south Omaha, Bellevue and LaVista. Hail approximately the size of a baseball was reported along Interstate 80 about six miles east of Council Bluffs. Other reports of large hail, generally golf ball-sized, came from the Omaha area along the border between Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Marble-sized hail falling in downtown Omaha around noon Tuesday briefly reduced visibility to near zero and covered the ground like heavy, wet snow. "It was scary. I've never seen a hailstorm like that in my life," said Melanie Travis, who was working at Tandem Staffing for Industry, 3701 S. 24th St. "It was so loud we couldn't even talk to each other." The storm system was so fast-moving that it took less than three hours to travel from the Kearney area in central Nebraska to Omaha, said John Pollack, a forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Valley. The National Weather Service at Valley said wind damage
and high winds were not widely reported in the Omaha area. However, within
the thunderstorm, winds could have been two or three times the strength
of the 25 mph reported at Eppley Airfield, the Weather Service said.
Eastern Nebraska's hail season is typically from early May to late June, but April hailstorms aren't unheard of, he said. The storm caused severe damage to Taylor's Flower Shop
and Greenhouse, 5414 S. 36th St. The hail shattered glass in most of the
five greenhouses and battered the spring plants growing inside, said owner
Scott Taylor.
The preliminary damage estimate to the business is more than $200,000 for the structures alone, Taylor said. It could be a week or more before the damage can be repaired, he said. An elderly woman walking into Tandem Staffing was hurt when hit in the head by several hailstones. She was bleeding and had some bad-looking knots, said Travis, a client-services representative. "It was really heavy, really quick," said Travis of the hail. A window in the upstairs apartment was broken by the pellets, Travis said. When the storm was over, employees shoveled the sidewalk. Hoods, roofs and trunks of vehicles also were damaged. At AAA of Nebraska, phones were ringing continuously, said public-affairs director Rose White. Dan Sweeney, claim team manager with State Farm's LaVista auto claim office, said an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 claims could be filed. He thought most of the damage was to vehicles - not homes. Company cars parked in their lot at the time of the storm had about $2,000 to $3,000 damage, Sweeney said. A pocket of Omaha - from 84th to 96th Streets around L Street - was particularly hard hit, according to AAA. At Sparks Computerized Auto Care, 4606 S. 84th St., almost all of the 15 vehicles in the lot were damaged. There were no broken windshields, said Dave Palensky, an auto technician. "I've never seen hail this big or seen it last this long," Palensky said. "It was quite an event. All you could do was hope your insurance didn't lapse." In Bellevue, Street Supervisor George Graham said his office was called to plow a street, but it was decided that there wasn't enough accumulation. Bellevue was hit hardest from 30th to 42nd Streets and Chandler Road to Harrison Street. The hail accumulated to 2 to 3 inches in places. Some of the stones were as big as golf balls. On the north end of the city, Graham said, "it looked like a snowstorm." World-Herald staff writer Patrick Strawbridge contributed to this report. |
