Thunderstorms, flash flooding hits eastern Nebraska

After thunderstorms and tornados loomed over counties in eastern Nebraska, storms finally broke Tuesday morning, leaving flood waters that covered areas of Omaha and its surrounding towns.

Several roads were closed in Omaha, stretching west to near Wahoo. Surrounding areas including Fremont were also affected by severe weather threats.

In Wahoo, the city's emergency services director Grant Anderson said crews were continuing to see flood waters rise across town.

Roads in town were closed early Tuesday morning, Anderson said, with multiple threats of severe weather. Nearly a dozen structures had to be evacuated across town, and three live rescues were performed by emergency response crews.

Just west of the Highway 92/77 junction, Anderson said the dam at Lake Wanahoo was at capacity, likely contributing to the rising water.

"Obviously, we won't know the totality of the damage until the water subsides, but we anticipate that there's going to be a lot of residual issues for our property owners," Anderson said.

Along with heavy rainfall in Fremont, sirens were activated as a result of strong gusts of winds early in the morning, according to Fremont Police Captain Kurt Bottorff.

"The hail took its toll on our cruisers because it came quick, and we were just out doing what we are supposed to do and got caught in the middle of it," Bottorff said.

Some areas received 4-8 inches of reported rain.

Rescue crews with the Omaha Fire Department performed multiple water rescues after the morning storm, and advised motorists to not drive through flooded areas. Early Tuesday afternoon, golf-ball sized hail was observed as well.

In Fremont, the town's fire department was mostly working to keep drivers safe on roads as they began to flood early morning Tuesday. A majority of the emergency response for flooding was to help stranded drivers out of their cars, according to Levi Alley, who is a firefighter and paramedic for the Fremont Fire Department.

The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings into the afternoon, with some storms producing wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Tornado watches were put into effect for much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, set to expire at 5 p.m.

The Big 10 baseball tournament was delayed three hours as a result of the severe weather, with the game between Nebraska and Ohio State set to begin at 8 p.m.

Eppley Airfield officials issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that airlines were reporting delays as a result of the severe weather, and encouraged passengers to check the status of their flights.