Storm Batters Columbus, Power Knocked Out to Several Homes

COLUMBUS - A storm battered Columbus on Wednesday, knocking over trees and taking out power to several homes. Loup Power CEO Neal Suess says three substations saw outages from the storm, taking out power to several homes in Columbus and Richland. One of many trees that were knocked over during the storm, completely blocked 8th Street near 16th Avenue, in Columbus. Other trees were also reported to have fallen into power lines. Hail fell for a short period as well, as the storm moved from the northeast to southwest of the city into Butler, Polk, Merrick, and Nance Counties. A Flood Advisory was issued for parts of Platte and Colfax Counties until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, following the heavy rainfall. Initial reports have clocked gusts up to 60 mph.