North Platte residents clean up following Sunday evening gustnado
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Sunday evening’s gustnado in Lincoln County forced an hours-long power outage within North Platte as wind gusts in excess of 80 mph downed power lines and power poles, uprooted trees and damaged homes, outbuildings and vehicles.
Clean-up began Monday morning for North Platte residents. Some trimming branches and trees, others picking up fallen debris. Among those surveying damage was North Platte Public Schools Director of Finance and Operation Stuart Simpson. Among the 14 buildings within the North Platte Public School District’s jurisdiction, only minor damage was reported at just one building.
”At Adams Middle School we had four bleachers that were on our black top and watching our cameras and assessing the damage last night and this morning it was amazing how that high wind picked them up and rolled them on the field and they were at the goal line or just past it so it went a solid 30 to 40 yards to get to that place,” said Simpson.
The North Platte National Weather Service reports that the peak wind speeds of the event were 105 mph. Serves as a staunch reminder to have anything outdoors properly secured or stored away.
”Anything that can be picked up relatively easily can be picked up by a storm and moved and can become a flying object that lands into someone’s house or through a window or through a car window. It’s really important that if you know we have storms coming think about the stuff around your house and ask yourself what can be moved indoors and what can I remove that could become a possible hazard,” said Brandon Myers the Director of Region 51 Emergency Management.
“We have some reports of some whole trees being uprooted and parts of roofs coming off a business not to mention the magnitude of the power polls that were snapped off,” Myers said. “We had one report from someone that was watching power pulls swing with the wind and that is not something you normally see. These storms are very dangerous and can cause a lot of damage just like a tornado.”
For some within North Platte power was restored within a few hours. Others were left in the dark until Monday morning. The Nebraska Public Power District reported that power outages also occurred within McCook and Lewlellen.
