Tornadoes tore through parts of Nebraska and Iowa on Friday, leveling dozens of homes, causing the collapse of an industrial building and injuring at least nine people, extending an outbreak of severe weather that started the day before.
In Nebraska, tornadoes struck places including Waverly and Lincoln, where an industrial building was destroyed, injuring at least three people, officials said. In western Omaha, two people were hospitalized and hundreds of homes were damaged, the police said.
In Iowa, a tornado hit Minden, about 100 miles west of Des Moines, destroying dozens of homes, said officials in Pottawattamie County, where at least four people were injured. Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for the county. Meteorologists also confirmed a tornado east of Des Moines, near Pleasant Hill.
The National Weather Service said that it had received more than 95 reports of tornadoes in at least five states in the Great Plains on Friday.
In Minden, the tornado left half the town “damaged badly,” with about 40 to 50 homes destroyed, said Jeff Theulen, the chief deputy with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office. Across the county, about 120 homes and businesses were damaged, the county Emergency Management Agency said in a statement early Saturday.
“There were several gas leaks, wires down, a lot of debris,” Mr. Theulen said. “So it’s a very dangerous area right now.” The entrances to the city of Minden are closed except to residents, and a curfew has been issued for the city from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., county officials said, declaring a state of emergency.