LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state climatologist says the tornadoes that roared through the Pilger area appear to be rare in their size and intensity.

State Climatologist Al Dutcher said Tuesday that major storms with more than one tornado are fairly common. But in most cases, one twister grows stronger and larger while the other weakens and shrinks.

Dutcher says the strength of both tornadoes likely increased because they had no nearby storms competing for wind and moisture, and the atmosphere was highly unstable.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Bryant in Hastings says the number confirmed so far this year is roughly in line the yearly average of about 54.

Van DeWald of the National Weather Service in Valley says the season started quietly but has picked up with tornadoes in mid-May and June.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have named the 5-year-old girl who was killed in the tornado that destroyed more than half the town of Pilger.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger identified her Tuesday as Calista Dixon.

Officials say the girl died after suffering injuries inside of a mobile home on Main Street in Pilger. Her death was one of two confirmed in the storm.

The other person killed was 74-year-old David A. Herout, of Clarkson. Authorities say Herout died after his vehicle left a county road east of Pilger, and he was ejected.

The National Weather Service says four tornadoes appear to have hit the region on Monday night.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says the storm that struck northeast Nebraska appears to have produced four tornadoes, one of which ravaged the town of Pilger.

Van DeWald, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Valley, says the first tornado is believed to have touched down in rural Stanton County, southwest of the town of Stanton.

DeWald says the second and third tornadoes landed to the southwest of Pilger and traveled together, about a mile apart. The northern tornado struck Pilger, destroying more than half of the town, and the two twisters then merged.

DeWald says a fourth tornado appears to have developed northeast of Pilger. Two crews from the National Weather Service were out reviewing the area to try to measure each tornado’s strength.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — The death of a second person has been blamed on tornadoes that authorities say destroyed or damaged more than half the town of Pilger in northeast Nebraska.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said Tuesday that a motorist died Monday after a single-vehicle accident that occurred on a county road four to five miles east of Pilger. Unger says the accident is considered storm-related because it occurred about the same time the storm pounded the community of about 350, which sits about 80 northwest of Omaha.

The sheriff didn’t release the victim’s name and said he didn’t have accident details.

Unger says a 5-year-old also died from injuries suffered Monday. Unger says the victim was pronounced dead on arrival at a Norfolk hospital. Her name hasn’t been released.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan has been upgraded to fair condition following the New Jersey highway crash that badly injured him and killed one of his friends.

Spokesman Lewis Kay said Monday that Morgan’s personality is also coming back.

The 45-year-old former “Saturday Night Live” star suffered broken ribs and a broken leg in the June 7 crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. The crash killed fellow comedian James McNair and seriously injured two other people.

Prosecutors say Wal-Mart driver Kevin Roper’s truck hit Morgan’s limo. The Georgia resident has pleaded not guilty to death by auto and assault by auto charges.

Kay says Morgan’s assistant Jeffrey Millea has also been upgraded to fair condition. Hospital officials say comedian Ardie Fuqua remains in critical condition.

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.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman helped police catch an intruder who barged into her home by snapping a picture of him.

Dawn Babcock was in her bathroom when a stranger entered her home earlier this month. Babcock asked him to leave, but he initially refused.

Then the man grabbed Babcock’s phone, and the two struggled over it before she got it back. Babcock snapped a quick picture of the man as he fled.

Police arrested a 24-year-old man a block and a half away from Babcock’s home after the June 9 incident. He is facing charges of trespassing, disturbing the peace, theft and lying to police about his name.

The suspect is listed as a transient and has a history of trespassing, stalking and indecent exposure charges.