Omaha tornado response volunteers seeking a different kind of help

ELKHORN, Neb. (WOWT) - For three weeks, nonprofit Omaha Rapid Response has been cleaning up storm debris, cutting trees, and helping residents get items out of their tornado-damaged homes in Bennington, Blair, Elkhorn, and Waterloo.

“Our goal to keep moving all of the tornado survivors...forward so that the hope is still building,” President Ken Gruber said.

More recently, Gruber said they’ve been demolishing some of the homes the tornado destroyed.

“We’ve got some heavy equipment coming in,” he said. “We’re partnering with a couple of organizations and going through the permit process.”

However, they need more skid steers, track loaders and excavators, as well as experienced operators to run them.

Meanwhile, Gruber said disposing of debris from homes has become costly since the Pheasant Point Landfill stopped waiving fees for his group last week.

“I’ve still got Mike Friend of the county commissioners trying to work on that to give us some kind of deal because we’re spending hundreds of dollars a day on just dump fees.”

Regardless, he and his volunteers are still pushing forward with helping tornado survivors.

For those who want to rebuild, Omaha Rapid Response is even setting them up with architect Ron Hackett, who can give them options for house designs that would fit in their homes’ footprints.

“We want to just provide these folks with a little nicer home than what they had,” Hackett said.

He said it depends on what insurance will pay for, but he wants residents to have something modern.

“These folks are having to go through a lot of turmoil,” Hackett said. “At the end of the day, it’s like, ‘I’d like to provide you with something that’s better.’ So make life a little better, make this seem somewhat worth it.”

Gruber said the next steps are submitting any plans they come up with for permits and getting clearance for rebuilding.

Omaha Rapid Response is always looking for more volunteers. If you’d like to sign up, click here.

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