Nebraska Storms Close Omaha Airport Twice, Damage Planes

Powerful storms showering baseball-size hail twice closed the Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, and forced the cancellation of flights Thursday.

The first storms rolled through at 5:30 p.m. Tursday, forcing the temporary closure of the airport for an hour and a half. Thirty minutes after it was reopened, the second storm forced it to close again, reports CNN.

Winds of up to 100 mph were reported, as were hailstones of 2.75 inches in diameter.

The storms did damage to seven aircraft belonging to American, United, Delta, Southwest, USAir and Frontier. A jetway was blown into an aircraft, the south concourse sustained water damage and cars in the parking lot were shattered by hail.

The only human casualty was a pilot who was taken to the hospital after being stuck in the head with a large hailstone. No word on his status, but he was conscious when brought to the hospital.

In April, a tornado damaged and forced the closure of Lambert Field in St. Louis. Passengers inside the terminal filmed the tornado hitting the airport.