PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 5-year-old was killed in the northeast Nebraska tornado that destroyed more than half of the town of Pilger.

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death in a statement late Monday. Authorities say the child was among several people near the town’s Main Street who suffered critical injuries when the tornado struck.

The tornado was one of two that touched down in Stanton County. Authorities say the first landed southwest of Stanton around 3:45 p.m. and leveled a farm house. Officials say the second tornado touched down shortly afterward southwest of Pilger before hitting the town. Several major buildings were destroyed, including the Fire Department.

The statement did not identify the child who was killed or specify a gender.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman has chosen an acting Nebraska Commissioner of Labor.

Heineman announced Monday that Department of Labor General Counsel John Albin will assume the role.

Albin has worked at the Department of Labor for more than 24 years, first as an administrative law judge in 1990. He joined the department’s legal division in 1993, and became general counsel in 2000. He was a private practice attorney before joining the department.

The 60-year-old Albin will replace Catherine Lang, who served as the state Commissioner of Labor and director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. Lang is leaving later this month to take a private sector job.

Albin, a Humboldt native, earned his law degree from the University of Nebraska in 1979.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger says 50 to 75 percent of Pilger was destroyed after two tornadoes roared through northeast Nebraska.

Unger said late Monday that the storm caused “total devastation” in the town of about 350. He says the local school is likely damaged beyond repair.

Unger says five people had to be rescued from a rural home day care northwest of Stanton. That home was hit just before the storm moved into Pilger.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has declared a state of emergency, and the National Guard was preparing to assist local emergency responders and help with the cleanup. Heineman and officials with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency were expected to arrive in the area Tuesday morning.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says at least two tornadoes have touched down in northeast Nebraska, causing widespread damage in the town of Pilger.

A spokeswoman for Providence Medical Center in nearby Wayne said ambulances were bringing in two patients who suffered lacerations, and the hospital had sent nurses to Pilger and the town of Wakefield.

Meteorologist Barbara Mayes says the tornadoes that touched down were about a mile apart, near the towns of Stanton and Pilger, 100 miles northwest of Omaha.

The tornadoes did not hit Stanton, but caused extensive damage in Pilger and some rural areas around that town of about 350. At least one of the tornadoes lifted off the ground several times before touching down again.