June 14, 2001

Tornadoes Hit Seward County; Two Are Injured

BY JAMES IVEY and DAVE MORANTZ
 

Seward, Neb. - Seward County took the bare knuckles that a flurry of tornadic storms gave east-central Nebraska Wednesday night. 
 

Rex Owens helps clean up his neighbor's house, east of Seward, that was destroyed by a tornado last night.

To the south, in Jefferson County, a tornado that was on the ground for what is believed to have been more than an hour, ripped a 15-mile path, damaging farm buildings in a northward path. High water, hail and wind damage were reported in eastern Nebraska. 

Eleven counties - Adams, Cass, Clay, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Douglas, Jefferson, Nuckolls, Seward and Thayer - were declared disaster areas by Gov. Mike Johanns' office. 

But it was in the county west of Lincoln that the clear light of dawn revealed a scene of strewn cars, propane tanks, tree limbs and broken windows. A two-story house had vanished. 

On Thursday morning, emergency crews and volunteers alike were: 
 

Cleaning up the mess at the Dorchester Farmers' Cooperative Depot, an anhydrous ammonia storage site east of Seward, the county seat. Two-ton tanks were blown as far as a half-mile from the site on U.S. Highway 34 between Seward and Lincoln. The highway remained closed Thursday morning because of concerns about safety. 

Homes that were near the site and still had occupants were evacuated late Wednesday. Gov. Johanns and the State Fire Marshal's Office were inspecting the scene Thursday during the cleanup. 
 

Duffek Implement east of Seward, Neb., sustained major damage when a tornado tore through the area Wednesday night.

Johanns said there did not appear to be any environmental damage at the tank depot, where a 1,000-gallon diesel tank rolled over and leaked fuel. 
 

Trying to restore power to rural residents whose homes were darkened, generally by trees down on power lines. Joel Navis, general manager of Seward County Rural Public Power District, estimated that about 200 customers were without power at midmorning Thursday. 
 

Counting up losses. Seward County emergency manager Bud Erickson said the Dorchester Cooperative sustained $500,000 in damage. The Marvin Banzhaf home was a complete loss, he said. An implement dealership on U.S. 34 suffered close to $220,000 in damage. 

Additionally, roads along a west branch of the Big Blue River near Cordova were closed because the river in southwest Seward County was out of its banks, said Seward Highway Superintendent Russell Daehling. He said many county roads were closed because of downed trees and power lines. 

"We got hit in three waves Wednesday night," Daehling said. 

The tornado touched down on the southwest corner of Seward about 8 p.m. It then traveled northeast, occasionally skipping into the sky. Fortunately, Erickson said, the twister jumped over the small town of Garland and its 247 residents. The brunt of the tornado hit an area two miles east of Seward. 

Heavy rain struck a short time later, Daehling said, and about midnight, the county took another wave of rain, up to three inches. 

At the Dorchester Cooperative, about 50 anhydrous ammonia tanks appeared to have been tossed about. Pete McHargue, assistant manager for the co-op, said it wasn't known how many tanks were hit. They weigh 4,000 pounds empty and 8,000 pounds full, he said. 

"The site was just about leveled," he said. 

Authorities said that no one was injured or became sick from the tank spill. Breathing ammonia fumes can cause illness. 

Daehling said the county has suffered greater damage from past storms. But this one probably will be talked about for years. 

The Banzhaf home was leveled while Marvin and Helen Banzhaf and their daughter, Sara, huddled in the basement near a refrigerator. Helen and Sara Banzhaf were treated at a Seward hospital Wednesday night and released. 

Standing on the brick foundation of the Banzhafs' home Thursday morning, Johanns looked at the spot where the family sought shelter. The home's walls had caved into the basement. 

"It's remarkable that they would survive something like that," he said. 

Johanns said state emergency management officials would assess storm damage across the state and decide in the next couple of days whether to provide state funds for the recovery efforts. 

Also damaged was the home of Ann and Don Coxbill, who moved to the area 12 years ago from San Francisco to avoid earthquakes. 

Ann Coxbill said she and Don watched from their front porch as the tornado leveled the Banzhaf home. They then ran to their basement about 8:15 p.m. 

"You could just feel it sucking everything out of the air," Ann Coxbill said. 

They came up from the basement about five minutes later and tried to check on the Banzhaf family, but couldn't cross the highway because of downed power lines. 

On Thursday morning the Coxbills collected the belongings they could find, including a stack of thank-you notes that their 18-year-old son had written after his high school graduation. 

World-Herald staff writers Joe Dejka and Veronica Rosman contributed to this report.