News Story by Lucy Kalkowski

From the tornadoes on April 26 to the high winds on July 31, it seems like the weather is hitting Omaha harder than usual. It is not just slightly unusual, as Omaha has been breaking numerous of its own weather-related records this year.

On July 31, a storm unlike any other ripped through Omaha. 90+ mile-per-hour winds, caused branches to fly across streets, shingles to rip from roofs, fences to blow over and many Nebraska residents to lose power. In fact, this was yet another record broken as The Omaha Public Power District reported nearly 219,000 customers experiencing power outages, according to KETV. The former record was broken by more than 30,000 reports.

With that number larger now after the severe weather in late July, it is safe to say that the weather this year is unpredictable.

Here at Marian, many students and staff had to deal with the destruction of either the tornadoes that tore through in April the hail in June or the high winds in July and, for some, all of the above.

On July 31 senior Hannah Nutsch was inside when she heard of an advancing storm on the news. “I didn’t think it was going to be a full-on almost like a hurricane outside. You couldn’t see across the street because of the wind,” Nutsch said. It is not normal for a storm to be as powerful as that, with tornado sirens being On July 31 senior Hannah Nutsch was inside when she heard of an advancing storm on the news. “I didn’t think it was going to be a full-on almost like a hurricane outside. You couldn’t see across the street because of the wind,” Nutsch said. It is not normal for a storm to be as powerful as that, with tornado sirens being On July 31 senior Hannah Nutsch was inside when she heard of an advancing storm on the news. “I didn’t think it was going to be a full-on almost like a hurricane outside. You couldn’t see across the street because of the wind,” Nutsch said. It is not normal for a storm to be as powerful as that, with tornado sirens being issued and people being advised to stay away from windows.

“There were points where you

could feel thunder shake the house.”

– Hannah Nutsch ’25

“There were a lot of transformers blowing up, and you could hear the booms. You could hear the wind howling against the house. There were points where you could feel thunder shake the house. Lightning struck just blocks away. It was just insane. My power flickered once and thenit just went out,” Nutsch said. Her power was out for five days, causing her familyto pack their things and live inside a hotel room.

Power outages were not the only problem that was produced in the storm’s wake. Principal Susie Sullivan was out of town when the storm hit, but she received news of its destruction through an email.

“I got an email actually from my neighbor who is a Marian student, which I loved. She was checking on us and she said, I see a tree fell on your house. Are you guys okay? Do you need any help? And I was like, ‘oh wow!’ So I sent her back an email and said could you take some pictures? We’re fine. We’re out of town. So about 10 minutes later, I got a ton of pictures back. Oh wow! This is big,” she said.

The damage to her house was extensive: from broken fences and ruined gutters to a knocked over brick chimney and leaks inside from the rain. Sullivan received help from family members who attempted to fix what they could while she was out of town.

“By the time I got back, the clean up was done, the power was back on, and my freezer had been cleaned out, so I owe all of them a lot of debt,” Sullivan said.

From tornadoes and hail storms to high winds, this year has been packed with extreme weather. Both Nutsch and Sullivan have noticed the subtle change in the increase of severe weather recently. “Storms usually happen around us and miss Omaha, but now it’s like it shifted,” Nutsch said.

“Even when there’s a big warning in the past, never have I thought, ‘I’m going to go home from work so that my car is in the garage so it doesn’t get hail on it. But there were a couple warnings this summer that I thought ‘I’m going to go home and work from home. I just want my car to be protected, be in my basement, and make sure everything is okay’. And that’s never anything I would do,” Sullivan said.

With an increase in extreme weather, it is important that everyone stays safe. Marian students practice fire and tornado drills every year, but Sullivan has extra advice in case a student finds herself facing a storm when the school day has ended.

“They are more than welcome to stay in the building, especially when they’re driving. They pass quickly, so some girls are like, ‘I don’t want to get stuck in school until 5:30’. They do go very quickly, so it’s probably 20 minutes, and it will save you from an accident or getting caught in the middle of hailstorm or flooding,” she said.

“Always err on the side of caution. Stay put. Twenty minutes may make a big difference,” Sullivan said.