KETV Storm Coverage: First With Pictures

KETV (Cox Channel 9) won the race Thursday to be the first Omaha TV station to show pictures and video of local storm damage.

A viewer's picture which was e-mailed to the station, showed tree and building damage near 33rd & I Streets. Not long after that, reporter Brandi Peterson was reporting live in South Omaha outside a home where a tree had fallen into the street.

KETV.com webmaster Shiloh Woolman was nearly as busy as the station's meteorologists and news gathering teams during Thursday afternoon's severe weather.

Chief Meterologist Bill Randby's live coverage of the storm was streamed over ketv.com for more than an hour as several intense weather systems passed through and around the metro. Randby pointed out that wind damage would have been much worse had trees been laden leaves.

Meanwhile, Woolman worked quickly to get e-mailed photos from viewers turned into a community slideshow.

And KETV wasn't shy about getting everyone on the station's news team involved. Photojournalist Terry Sedivy appeared onset to share details of what he witnessed and I-Team consumer reporter Mike Sigmond compiled damage reports.