Rare twin tornado rips through Nebraska town

At least one person has died and 16 injured after a rare twin tornado ripped through northeast Nebraska.

The National Weather Service said two tornadoes touched down within a mile of each other, directly hitting the town of Pilger.

Local residents were evacuated after homes and buildings were stuck in the centre of one twister. Half the town was heavily damaged and several farming communities nearby have also been destroyed.

“Just massive!”

The tornadoes, part of a super-cell thunderstorm system, appeared to be class EF-2 or EF-3 twisters, meaning they packed cycling winds of up to 165 miles per hour (266 kilometres per hour).

“That is violent.

“Yeah, they’re both violent.”

“They’re merging! They’re going to merge!”

The Nebraska Governor has now declared a state of emergency and police have closed all roads around Pilger.

Difficult words: twin (double), rip (move and destroy things), twister (tornado), massive (huge), super-cell thunderstorm (very large and strong storm), merge (combine into something bigger).