A line of thunderstorms Monday morning sent high winds, along with some rain and hail, over eastern Nebraska and into Iowa, knocking down tree limbs and causing power outages.
High winds did blow down a few light poles on the campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College.
The storms raced over parts of eastern Nebraska before 9 a.m. Monday, bring wind gusts of up to 70 mph. Omaha Public Power District reported more than 55,500 customers without power in Omaha and surrounding communities. By 10 a.m., the storms had moved into western Iowa and later into central Iowa, including Des Moines and Ames, where straight-line gusts of up to 80 mph set off a number of tornado sirens
The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state of Iowa reached 49,000 this morning. There have been one more death in the state during a 24-hour period.
There are more than 3,700 positive cases in Woodbury County, with just one more positive test result added today.
There have been 52 deaths, included one more added on Sunday; an older man between the ages of 61 and 80.
Dakota County now has 1,900 positive cases with the addition of nine new confirmed tests. The death toll there is 42.
The family of a fourth worker who died of coronavirus during an outbreak at Tyson Foods’ largest pork processing plant is suing the company over his death. The employee of the Waterloo facility died in late April.
The lawsuits allege Tyson put employees at risk by downplaying concerns and covering up the outbreak in order to keep them on the job.
Tyson says the deaths are tragic but that it vigorously disputes claims of wrongdoing.
Nebraska’s public and private colleges are all forging ahead with plans to resume in-person classes this month but will take new steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Representatives for Nebraska’s three state colleges and 13 private colleges say students will see socially distanced classrooms, less strict attendance policies and mask mandates on campuses throughout the state. Colleges are also planning on-campus temperature screenings.
The state college system includes the publicly funded Chadron, Peru and Wayne State Colleges. The University of Nebraska, which is separate from the state colleges, outlined similar plans for its fall classes last month.
University of Iowa administrators are pushing ahead with plans to resume some in-person classes and on-campus housing, even as student leaders said those steps were too risky during the coronavirus pandemic. The university said it will not test students who will begin moving into the Iowa City campus in the coming days, unlike the mass testing last week at Iowa State University in Ames. The school has also not finalized metrics for determining whether to shut down face-to-face instruction in the event of an outbreak during the semester. But at a news conference, top administrators touted the safety measures they have put in place and said they looked forward to welcoming students back.
And, starting today subscribers to the Sioux City Journal got their news in an on-line edition only. Monday and Tuesday editions will come out online. There will still be a print version Wednesday through Sunday with special features that are missed including comics, Dear Abby and datebook included in the newspaper on other days instead.
The Sioux City Journal released this statement about the move online:
"As we near our 156th year (mark your calendar – the paper was started Aug. 20, 1864), we are even more committed to bringing you the most complete news package. While our founders never anticipated something like the internet, we’re sure they would be just as excited about the possibilities it holds."