Nine twisters sighted in Decatur County

Rain water was running curb full at West Q and Third this morning.
(Billie Cole/McCook daily Gazette)

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Patty Skubal, director of Decatur County Emergency Management, reported that nine tornadoes throughout the county -- between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday -- damaged homes and some businesses. "We opened several shelters for local people and for people traveling through town," Skubal said.

Sheriff Ken Badsky said he has never seen so many tornadoes hit at one time. Trained weather spotters watched the storm from vantage points across the county.

Red Willow County Sheriff Gene Mahon reported rain, runoff and creek water washing over Highway 6&34 west of McCook following intermittent heavy rainfall early this morning.

Numerous customers of Twin Valleys Public Power in the Bartley and Lebanon areas were still without power this morning as straight-line winds or possibly a tornado ripped down power lines and snapped off power poles. Mahon said his officers counted at least 23 power poles down. There were reports of up to six inches of rain in the Bartley area, and water and debris over the paved county road between Bartley and Lebanon. No roads were reported washed out, however.

A county maintainer was needed to clear flash flood debris from areas along the Cambridge lake road Thursday evening.

Heavy winds snapped off "some really good-sized trees" in the Marion area, Mahon said.

Mahon said that his officers and spotters reported no funnel clouds or tornadoes, "but we saw lots of rotation" in clouds. "The rain was so heavy, though, that a tornado could have been right on top of you before you could have reacted," Mahon said.

The Goodland, Kan., Weather Service reported severe weather throughout Southwest Nebraska, Northwest Kansas and Northwest Colorado during the afternoon, evening and night.

Trained spotters reported a tornado four miles south and two west of Wauneta and extremely heavy rain in the Enders area.

Spotters watched two tornadoes one mile east and one mile west of Highway 23 near Dresden, near the southeastern corner of Decatur County, and another tornado three miles north-northeast of Dresden.

Officials measured hail up to golfball-size at Cambridge, up to quarter-size at Atwood in Rawlins County, dime- to penny-sized at St. Francis and Oberlin and mothball-sized at Benkelman and Wauneta.