No major injuries were reported from storms that brought tornadoes, hail, heavy rain and lightning to much of Nebraska and Iowa Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Twisters touched down in Iowa southwest of Malvern, south of Glenwood, south of Emerson and west of Red Oak. The Adams County Emergency Management Office confirmed damage to homes and trees near Corning.

More tornadoes hit nearby Union County near Creston and caused isolated damage such as downed power lines and farm damage.

After the outbreak of tornadoes in Iowa, Nebraska was next. West of Lincoln there were touch downs west of Ulysses and west of Surprise.

"I've got a lot of damage, from tree damage to utility poles to power lines down," Butler County Sheriff Mark Hecker told the Lincoln Journal Star. Several farm buildings were damaged or destroyed by the storm and some irrigation pivots in the area were flipped over.

There's no confirmation of a tornado touch down in Ceresco where the Saunders County Sheriff's Department reports power lines down and some structural damage. County Roads A, B, C, D and E along with Ashland Road are closed.

Steve Sousek at the Barn Door Restaurant on the eastern edge of Ceresco told Channel 6 News its roof was peeled off. He's heard at least two houses in town were destroyed.

The storms dropped hail up to golf ball-sized and significant amounts of rain on eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

A tornado left one family homeless south of Malvern. Its walls were turned to rubble and windows blown out just before 7 p.m. Friends say a father and two children hid in a tub when the storm hit. Everyone is okay.

The family is staying with relatives, too shaken up to be interviewed. They have not been allowed back to their home to survey the damage because things were still volatile.

Trees in and around Emerson were ripped from the ground, fields transformed into graveyards for debris and power poles became toothpicks tossed about.

Mike Wright, who lives six miles southwest of Malvern, took the photograph of the tornado at the top of this page.

The image on the right is from Dottie Varner. It was shot near Emerson shortly after 7 p.m.

Otherwise, thunderstorms darkened the skies. "It never did touch down on the ground, but you could see water being sucked out of the fields as it went over the interstate towards 194th street," said Dan Kates of Pacific Junction, Iowa.

A camper at Linoma Beach had his windshield cracked by hail. He was one of many campers there evacuated by Sarpy County sheriff's deputies.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for most of southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa into Thursday. There's a moderate risk for more severe weather in the Channel 6 viewing area Thursday night.

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