Thursday November 21, 2013: Just before 8 pm fire crews were called to 10121 Princeton rd. for a structure fire. Crews from Firth, Hallam, Hickman, Bennet, and Southeast Rural responded to the fire. Crews battled 30 mph winds and temps in the lower 20s while fighting the fire. The resident of the house was able to escape the flames after be awoken by her dog. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated and released for smoke inhalation.

Fire engulfs the entire house.

 A firefighter waves a water tanker forward towards the scene of the fire.

Firefighters pull a line while fighting the fire.

Firefighters attack the fire.

Thursday October 10, 2013: Just before 6 am fire crews were called to 7320 Colby Street after flames were reported coming from the garage. Fire crews discovered the fire had traveled through void spaces and spread throughout the house. I arrived and took a series of pictures showing firefighters working to ventilate the structure.

 The first photo shows fire fighters cutting the vent hole.

The second photo shows firefighters pulling the roof material out of the hole.

The last photo shows the firefighters exiting the roof as flames begin shooting from the vent hole.

Shortly after the final photo interior crews knocked the fire down in the attic. The home suffered extensive damage and was ruled a total loss.

Friday October 4, 2013: Today had the potential for severe weather and I had known it for several days. It looked like eastern Nebraska and western Iowa were the most likely to experience tornadoes and I planned to go storm chasing that afternoon. What came as a surprise about today actually happened the night before. There was a chance of thunderstorms that night some possibly severe but I didn't give it much chance of happening. So it came as a surprise to me when my weather radio went off warning of baseball size hail to the southwest of Lincoln. The storm began to rotate and soon it was tornado warned. Due to poor positioning, Darkness and lack of a good data connection I elected to sit at home and watch the storms on radar and try to finish up some homework. Soon there was a confirmed tornado on the ground and reports of damage began to roll in. I decided the next morning I would go document some of the damage before heading north to chase the storms likely to form Friday afternoon. The National Weather Service Rated the tornado an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

This house located two miles east of Hickman sustained considerable damage with the roof as well as some second floor exterior walls destroyed.

 This house located one mile south of Bennet had part of the roof blown off. Most of the out buildings at this house were completely blown away as well. While speaking with the homeowner I learned the house had also sustained damage during the May 22, 2004 Hallam EF-4 Tornado.

This farmstead located two and a half miles east-northeast of Bennet sustained damage to the garage and an addition to the home. Most of the outbuildings on the farmstead were destroyed as well.

After surveying the damage from Thursday night's storms I returned to Lincoln and prepared to head north into a atmospheric environment more favorable for severe weather. I left Lincoln about 2 pm and headed in the general direction of Wayne. Storms began to develop north South of Norfolk and I took this photo near Stanton. 

Towers going up near Stanton.

The storm was tornado warned and as it continued northeast it soon became apparent that it was capable of producing a strong tornado. It ended up producing an EF-4 Tornado that stuck the southeast part of Wayne. My view of the tornado was not the best due to rain wrapping around the tornado but I got this picture just south of Wayne. 

Large rain wrapped tornado south of Wayne.

The National Weather Service estimated the width of the tornado at 1.39 miles. After it crossed Hwy 15 the storm made a beeline towards Sioux City. It was a struggle to keep up and with darkness coming fast it became clear it might be best to find a better storm. A storm had developed behind the Storm that had struck Wayne and was approaching the Nebraska/South Dakota Border to the west. I was able to get this picture of a possible tornado as it crossed the Missouri river into South Dakota 

Possible tornado near Jackson, NE

At this point it was getting dark and it was time to get some food and head home. It was an amazing experience to be within a few miles of an almost mile and half wide EF-4 tornado. A number of people were injured by the tornado but thankfully no one was killed.