Mills County Spared Tornado Damage That Ravaged Nearby Communities

Significant structural damage to one home was confirmed in western Mills County as a result of Friday’s tornado outbreak in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

“We had one property out on Hannah, just off of 195th and north of Highway 34 that I’d classify that during our preliminary damage assessment as a “Major”, which is going off of FEMA’s assessment guidelines,” Mills County 911 / Emergency Management Director Travis Hitchcock said. “From the initial take, they lost probably 90 percent of the roof.”

Hitchcock said tree branches and limbs fell on another house near the Mills County Conservation Building.

“It probably had two trees that had either limbs or some of it fall on it,” he said. “From my view, it didn’t appear it had structural damage, but obviously internally they could have some.”

Several trees in the same area were damaged.

“We were able to track where a tornado either touched down or tried to in the hills,” Hitchcock said. “Trees were twisted or snapped.”

A tornado was spotted in the sky near the Interstate 29-Highway 34 interchange shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, but as of Monday morning, the National Weather Service had yet to determine if the tornado actually touched down in Mills County.

Multiple tornadoes on Friday afternoon and evening ravaged homes, buildings and trees in communities across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, including Lincoln, Omaha, Bennington and Blair in Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Crescent and Minden in western Iowa.

“I would say we fared pretty lucky in comparison to some of the other towns and cities that had damage on Friday,” Hitchcock said.

As of Monday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds had issued a disaster proclamation for nine counties in response to severe weather that occurred on Friday. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and Disaster Case Advocacy Program for the following counties: Clarke, Crawford, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby and Union.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management website at homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/assistance. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim. 

The Disaster Case Advocacy Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case advocates work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referrals to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation.