Wednesday night was ending like any other typical spring night for Randy and Penny Williams of rural Davenport. Randy was cleaning up after a full day of working in the field planting this year’s crop and Penny returned home from her job in the Fillmore County Assessor’s Office in Geneva. The couple sat down and ate dinner and glanced at a nearby TV every once in awhile.

Randy noticed some warnings for possible severe weather in the area and the couple checked out the internet for radar maps and warnings. Penny also had recently signed up for Fillmore County’s voluntary warning system, Code RED, a few weeks prior. Several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued throughout the evening of May 2. At 9:25 p.m., an Immediate Broadcast was requested updating the Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 10:15 p.m. for southwestern Fillmore County noting the possible impacted locations of Edgar, Fairfield, Davenport, Ong, Shickley and Strang.

The Williams live at 302 Road Y in the southwestern tip of Fillmore County—five miles south and two miles west of Shickley or just about three miles northeast of Davenport.

“I spent all day in the tractor planting,” Williams said. “About 7 to 7:30, I showered and ate supper. I saw the radar maps and the possible warnings... Then, we noticed the warnings for just north of Davenport and decided to head to the basement. The red-alert system called us several times too... Our daughter also called us.”

Williams said the internet quit a short time later. His wife and he then moved toward a concrete-lined storm shelter under the porch with the family’s dog and cat.

Next, there was an eerie calm.

For the complete story read the current issue of The Nebraska Signal.