Tornado struck GA side of Omaha

The damage from the April 26 strike on Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, at 5 p.m. was captured later in images taken by Omaha Airport Authority staff, who briefly shut down the airport after multiple tornadoes struck the area, one making a direct hit on the airport, though sparing the commercial aviation side. The Associated Press reported extensive damage to homes and other buildings in and around Omaha.

"Our thoughts are with those folks," said Stephen McCoy, chief information and development officer for the airport authority, in a telephone interview April 29. "There was quite a bit of impact to the entire community."

At the airport, staff had time to reach their designated storm shelters and ride out the tornado, emerging to find much of the airport unscathed. "The [passenger] terminal area was not impacted at all," McCoy said, adding that after a brief inspection of runways and taxiways, the airport was able to reopen and commercial service resumed quickly. "The airport was closed for a little bit under an hour."

Things were different on the general aviation side, where several hangars were damaged or destroyed, along with a number of aircraft—initially thought to be 32 aircraft, but later revised down to 31. "We're still sifting through the debris," McCoy said three days after the storm. "We've been working with the original aircraft owners, giving them briefings. They're all working with their insurance company."

Click images to enlarge and view captions:

While the east side of the airport remained closed, the airport was prepared to welcome Berkshire Hathaway shareholders for events leading up to the May 4 annual meeting.

McCoy said preparation for severe weather is ongoing, and the airport has long since established safe shelter locations within easy reach of passengers and staff. "We train on this annually, with our team and with our tenants, on severe weather response."