Here's one of the many photos I took the day after, all you could see was total destruction in every direction.
Here is a link to someone else photos.
http://www.tornadochaser.net/hallam.html
Here's the play by play.
National Weather Service
Omaha, Nebraska
Serving Eastern Nebraska and Southwest Iowa On the World Wide Web at:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/oax/
000
ABUS34 KOMA 252137 CCA
PNSOMA
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
400 PM CDT TUE MAY 25 2004
... DAMAGE SURVEY REPORT ON THE HALLAM NEBRASKA TORNADO ...
A SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN VALLEY,NE
OF THE TORNADO THAT STRUCK HALLAM ON SATURDAY,MAY 22ND. THE
FOLLOWING IS AN OVERVIEW OF DAMAGE ALONG THE TRACK.
THE TORNADO STARTED 2 MILES NORTH OF DAYKIN,NE AND TRAVELED
EAST-NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 1 MILE SOUTH OF WESTERN AND CONTINUED TO
ABOUT 2 MILES NORTH OF SWANTON. THE TORNADO WAS RATED F0 TO F1 ON
THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE IN THIS SECTION. MUCH OF THE DAMAGE WAS DUE
TO FARM OUTBUILDINGS,GRAIN BINS AND TREES. THE TORNADO REMAINED F0
TO F1 UNTIL IT STRUCK THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF WILBER WHERE IT
STRENGHTHENED TO F2. ROOFS BLOWN OFF OF HOMES OCCURRED JUST
SOUTHEAST OF WILBER.
THE TORNADO FROM WILBER TO NORTH OF CLATONIA TO HALLAM GREW TO ITS
MOST INTENSE STAGE. THE TORNADO'S PATH WIDTH ALSO INCREASED TO AN
UNPRECIDENTED TWO AND ONE-HALF MILES. THE F-SCALE RATING FOR THE
STORM WAS F4 FROM ABOUT CLATONIA TO HALLAM. MANY WELL-BUILT HOMES
WERE DEMOLISHED. GRAIN BINS,FARM SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS,AND TREES
WERE DEMOLISHED ALONG THIS SECTION OF THE PATH. HALLAM ITSELF
ESCAPED THE STRONGEST WINDS OF THE STORM,WHICH WERE SOUTH OF THE
TOWN. NEVERTHELESS,MANY OF THE STRUCTURES IN HALLAM WERE RATED F2
TO F3. THE STORM ALSO TOPPLED HOPPER CARS FROM A FREIGHT TRAIN ON
THE WEST SIDE OF THE TOWN.
THE TORNADO THEN TRACKED EAST FOR SEVERAL MILES PRIOR TO TURNING
NORTHEAST AGAIN. THE STORM NARROWED TO ABOUT A MILE WIDE AS IT
PASSED JUST NORTH OF CORTLAND AND ABOUT 2 MILES NORTH OF FIRTH. THE
NORRIS SCHOOLS NORTH OF FIRTH RECEIVED SEVERE DAMAGE WITH THE ROOF
OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM COLLAPSED AND SEVERAL WALLS CAVED
IN. SCHOOL BUSSES WERE TOSSED. SEVERAL HOMES NORTHEAST OF THE
SCHOOLS WERE FLATTENED WHERE THE STORM WAS AGAIN RATED F4.
DAMAGE CONTINUED NORTHEAST TO HOLLAND AND 2 MILES NORTH OF PANAMA.
THE TORNADO WAS SLGHTLY WEAKER IN THIS SECTION (F2 AT THE MOST) AND
BEGAN TO NARROW. THE TRACK THEN CURVED MORE TO THE NORTH, JUST TO
THE SOUTH OF BENNET WHERE SOME HOMES RECEIVED F3 DAMAGE. AFTER
PASSING TO THE SOUTH OF BENNET, THE STORM MOVED BACK TO THE
NORTHEAST AND BEGAN TO WEAKEN TO F0 TO F1 STRENGTH. THE TRACK ALSO
WAS BECOMING NARROWER. THE TORNADO THEN DISSIPATED 1 MILE WEST OF
PALMYRA.
IN SUMMARY.
F-SCALE RATING: F4
PATH LENGTH: 52 MILES
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH: 2 1/2 MILES
THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE IS AS FOLLOWS:
F0 LESS THAN 73 MPH CHIMNEYS DAMAGED, TREES BROKEN
F1 73-112 MPH MOBILE HOMES MOVED
OFF FOUNDATIONS OR OVERTURNED
F2 113-157 MPH CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE, MOBILE HOMES
DEMOLISHED, TREES UPROOTED
F3 158-206 MPH ROOF AND WALLS TORN DOWN, TRAINS
OVERTURNED, CARS THROWN
F4 207-260 MPH WELL-CONSTRUCTED WALLS LEVELED
F5 261-318 MPH HOMES LIFTED OFF FOUNDATIONS
AND CARRIED SOME DISTANCE, CARS
THROWN A LONG DISTANCE.
MORE INFORMATION AND PICTURES WILL BE POSTED ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE WEB SITE AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/OAX/
BRIAN E. SMITH
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
.END
Later estimates put it at an F5 when it was at it's strongest.
