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Governor Surveys Pilger Tornado Damage

By Matthew Leaf

06/18/2014

(KTNC)--Governor Dave Heineman toured the northeast Nebraska community of Pilger, which was slammed by twin tornadoes on Monday.
Heineman viewed the destruction from the air then landed for a walk through of the community.
Two people died, up to 50 homes were destroyed, businesses and schools wrecked, and a grain elevator was heavily damaged by what the National Weather Service confirms was one EF4 and one EF2 tornado.
Heineman says he believes the town will rebuild, and says the key may be whether the grain elevator, which employed many people in the town, rebuilds.
While assessment of the damage continues, Heineman says he will likely request a presidential disaster declaration for Pilger.
Fresh off his visit to the destruction left by Monday’s tornadoes, the governor reflected on what has turned into a turbulent weather year in Nebraska.
A tornado struck Wayne last October...the same day a blizzard hit Chadron. In May, storms heavily damaged areas in eastern Nebraska including Beaver Crossing, Cordova, and Sutton. And a hailstorm did significant damage in Blair earlier this month.
More tornadoes were reported in northern Nebraska Tuesday night. The Nebraska Emergency Management agency says a suspected twister damaged farmsteads near Coleridge and in the Laurel and Hartington areas. Coleridge is about 35 miles north of Pilger.
The National Weather Service also says tornadoes touched down Tuesday night in northwest Nebraska’s Cherry and Hooker Counties. There were reports that a semi-trailer was overturned and a car was blown over, but there were no reports of injuries from Tuesday’s storms.

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