Nebraska tornado survivor recounts mayhem: ‘The windows exploded and glass was flying everywhere’

BLAIR, Neb. — As a massive tornado swirled just outside Omaha on Saturday, Kevin Ryder said he was doing what every other Nebraskan would do.

“I was standing out back (of my home) watching the storm brew and coming up the hill,” Ryder told FOX Weather. His brother Rich had his phone handy and his video showed the swirling tornado taking up a large chunk of the horizon behind his home.

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“About 2 or 3 minutes into that video being shot… well, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and on my arms, and I knew this was a little bit different,” he said. “So we grabbed the dog and the cat and kids and ran downstairs into the wine cellar.”

It wasn’t a moment too soon.

“Just as we rounded the basement wall to get into the cellar, the windows exploded and glass started flying everywhere,” he said. “So the next three or four minutes were pretty tense in the dark, stilling along while the house shook.”

The tornado, which had already caused significant damage in Elkhorn, was now roaring through his neighborhood southeast of Blair at what would later be determined as EF-3 strength with estimated winds of 165 mph.

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He said after what seemed like forever, but in reality, was just a few minutes, they ventured back upstairs as the tornado continued on what would ultimately be a 31-mile-long path.

“As I opened up the basement door, I looked up and saw blue sky,” he said. “The roof is gone; the whole back of the house is gone.”

But moments after the twister passed, the local community sprang into action to help clean up and take care of each other.

“Within 16 hours, there were 40 people on my property cutting down limbs and pulling pieces of metal out of the side of the house and out of the shop,” he said.

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And neighbors helped track down what blew away.

“Most of the larger things that we lost have already been found,” Ryder said. “They’re not in great shape, but they were found in the neighbor’s yard. Some things were found up to 30 miles away.”

He said the recovery process is already under way at his home and in the community, where several homes lay significantly damaged or destroyed by the tornado.

“Some of the houses in the neighborhood are completely gone,” he said. 

But even through the devastation, they are all pulling together.

“The truth is, no one lives in Nebraska for the weather. We live here for the community,” he said. “Churches and the schools have pitched in, and they’ve sent so many volunteers, lunches and dinners and things like that out here as we start to rebuild. It’s just been an amazing experience. Humbling for sure.”