As hundreds of homeowners in and near Omaha begin efforts to rebuild their homes destroyed during a massive outbreak of tornadoes, there is some, some comforting news to offset the tornado that ripped through Elkhorn and Bennington with winds of at least 135 miles an hour.

It’s turning out that you do not have to pay property taxes on homes leveled by the tornadoes, not long ago you would have.

This all goes back to the massive Nebraska floods of 2019 which left an estimated $3 billion dollars of damage behind.

That found State Sen. Steve Erdman working up legislation allowing a reset of the taxes owed on “damage to…property exceeding 20 percent of the property’s assessed value” clearly covering homes that are no longer livable, following a disaster.

In addition, the Nebraska Supreme Court, in just the last few weeks, removed some lingering questions about the legislation noting that a “disastrous event” includes but is not limited to "Fire, an earthquake, a flood, a tornado, or other natural event.”

Homeowners are advised to contact the county to keep those taxes off the books.