Minor injuries reported after Nebraska storms

DILLER, Neb. (AP) — Officials began a damage and site survey on Tuesday to confirm whether tornadoes or straight-line winds battered houses and farm buildings and ripped up trees and road signs in south-central and southeast Nebraska.

Funnel clouds were reported in rural areas 11 miles north of Kimball and a few miles north of Dix, apparently causing no damage.

Clay County emergency manager Loren Uden said two minor injuries were reported after a storm that struck Edgar a little after 7:30 p.m. Monday, including a driver whose car was lifted off a road. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment, Uden said.

A dozen or more Edgar houses were damaged, some by the wind and some by blown-down trees or tree limbs, Uden said. At least five grain bins were heavily damaged at the Edgar Co-op, and brick walls were damaged on two downtown buildings.

Power was knocked out as well, Uden said. The American Red Cross said workers from the Central Plains Chapter were on the scene to help storm victims.

A tornado was suspected for some damage that occurred about 90 minutes later near Diller in Jefferson County.

National Weather Service meteorologist Van DeWald said the service hadn't gotten any sighting reports, but he said damage and radar readings suggested there had been a tornado.

There was damage to some homes and buildings about two miles south of Harbine, said Jefferson County Emergency Management Coordinator John McKee. Power lines were downed along Nebraska Highway 103, forcing the highway to be closed for a couple of hours.

In neighboring Gage County, a rural Beatrice man reported that three grain bins were blown over and several center pivot irrigation systems were overturned. Blown-over trees blocked a road south of Ellis.

Trees were uprooted and a chicken house damaged about six miles southwest of Shickley in southwest Fillmore County, officials said. Several power poles were knocked down about four miles south of Tobias, in Saline County.