Storms hit Midwest, ‘dangerous evening’ forecast

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Severe weather packing large hail
and heavy rain rolled into Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday as potentially
dangerous storms targeted a swath of the Midwest, including states where
voters were casting ballots in primary elections.
The National
Weather Service said reports of hail damage and flooding have begun to
trickle in as storms pushed into Nebraska and continued eastward.
Officials
said the highest risk for severe weather was centered in parts of
eastern Nebraska, western and southern Iowa, and northeast Missouri.
Officials said there was the potential for a weather event called a
derecho, which is a storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at
least 240 miles.
"This is one of these days we can’t let our guard
down," said Bill Bunting, forecast operations chief at the Storm
Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. "It’s unfortunately panning out
as we thought it would. This is shaping up as a very dangerous evening."
The
outbreak of severe thunderstorms has already affected parts of northern
and eastern Nebraska, where residents in Norfolk and Blair reported
homes and vehicles damaged by large hail. Terry Landsvork, an
observation program leader for the National Weather Service in Valley,
Nebraska, said the severe weather is forecast into the evening and early
hours of Wednesday.
Landsvork said on Interstate 29 north of
Council Bluffs in western Iowa, more than 25 vehicles had their windows
shattered by hail.
"They were driving along Interstate 29, had no
place to go, and whether they were driving or pulled over, they just
didn’t escape the hail," he said.
Winds of up to 85 mph were also reported in some parts of Iowa. Up to 4 inches of rain was expected.
In
Nebraska, weather officials said at least one severe thunderstorm
capable of producing a tornado was reported near the city of Fullerton. A
similar thunderstorm was reported in the western Iowa community of
Elliot. Officials say they won’t be able to confirm if there were any
tornadoes for several hours.
The storms also are expected to affect parts of Illinois, Kansas and South Dakota.
Heavy
rain in the Omaha area has caused police to assist drivers stranded in
floodwaters. Officers are also patrolling roads to replace blown off
manhole covers, and officials closed Eppley Airfield airport.
"There
was big ice on the ground. Nothing but ice," said Omaha resident Shuree
Stephens. "It’s hasn’t been like this in a long time."
The bad
weather had an impact on the primary elections in Iowa, where some
officials and voters were forced to seek shelter in Pottawattamie County
around 5 p.m. County Auditor Mary Jo Drake said operations have been
suspended in about 10 precincts out of 40. There were no reports of
injuries. Montgomery County closed and evacuated polls around 6 p.m.
"It’s nasty here, you can’t imagine," Drake said. "It’s as black as the ace of
spades."
Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz had encouraged residents to vote early due to the expected severe
weather.
In
South Dakota, a thunderstorm forced Senate candidate Mike Rounds, who
was flying to Rapid City, to land in Pierre. Secretary of State Jason
Gant said he hopes the weather doesn’t hurt voter turnout, but he wants
people to be safe.
Bunting said Iowa residents planning to vote Tuesday should be cautious about when they head out to the
polls.
"There
may be in many areas time to go out and do things before the storms
hit. I think the main thing is to listen to the forecast, get some sense
of when storms are likely in your area and just make sure you’re in a
safe place before the storms hit," he said.
The severe weather
threat arrives amid an unusually quiet late spring, with far fewer
documented tornados in May than in many recent years. Bunting said the
current system could be most severe because of widespread straight-line
winds.
"As we like to say, it doesn’t have to rotate to be dangerous," he said.

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