Siouxland residents help return personal items to those hit by Nebraska tornadoes

WAYNE, Nebraska (KCAU) – Last week, parts of eastern Nebraska were hit by severe weather . Now, Siouxland residents are working together to help out those who were affected.

A family from Oto, Iowa has found several photos from homes that were hit nearly 80 miles south of them. They’re working to find the original owners.

“I was like ‘wow,’ you know a photo is worth a thousand words but knowing what this photo went through is just mind-blowing,” Oto resident and Wayne State student Teresa Johnson said.

Teresa Johnson, her brother Dillon and her mother Stephanie have found more than 20 photos, checks, and other personal items that made their way from Omaha all the way to Woodbury County.

“It is really hard to see those photos, and I mean some of them are torn apart and some of them are perfectly fine,” Johnson said. “It’s just something that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you really want it back to the original owner.”

Using the community in Facebook and other social media platforms, the Johnsons have been able to locate some of the original owners.

“I’m just hoping that with the photos we are still finding and have found, I’m hoping it’s bringing some piece of joy to the families and we’re able to help them know that they can get through this,” Johnson said.

And with the amount of tornado debris scattered around Siouxland, it has pushed one resident to create a lost-and-found Facebook group.

“My Facebook friends were posting on their page like ‘hey, I’m assuming this is from the tornadoes, but not quite really sure,’” Bryce Jensen, administrator for the “Nebraska/Iowa 2024 tornado lost and found” group, said. “And I figured there’s got to be a group or something, and then I was like, well, if nobody else made a group, then I’m just going to make it.”

With more than 100 posts in the past five days, the page has shown the power of having caring community members.

“I’m just glad that a simple group can go so far and it can help so many people,” Jensen said. “Especially when you have good people on [Facebook], and it’s just one big circle, and it just keeps going.”

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