Tornadoes have wreaked havoc in America’s Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Nebraska.

As of Friday night, local time, there were multiple reports of injuries but no immediate deaths.

Three people were hurt in Nebraska’s Lancaster County when a tornado hit an industrial building, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside.

Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated and the injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.

One of the most destructive tornadoes moved through mostly rural farmland before chewing up homes and other structures in the suburbs of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people.

Photos on social media showed the small city of Minden, Iowa, about 48.3 kilometres north-east of Omaha, also sustained heavy damage.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Forecasters warned that large hail and strong wind gusts were possible.

“It does look like a big outbreak again tomorrow,” Becky Kern, the warning coordination meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office said.

Hundreds of houses sustained damage in Omaha, mostly in the Elkhorn area in the western part of the city, Omaha police lieutenant Neal Bonacci said.

Police and firefighters went door-to-door to help people, going to the “hardest hit area” to search for anyone trapped, Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman said.

“We’ll be looking throughout properties in debris piles, we’ll be looking in basements, trying to find any victims and make sure everybody is rescued who needs assistance,” Ms Bossman said.

In one area of Elkhorn, dozens of newly built homes were damaged. At least six were wrecked, including one that was levelled, while others had their top halves ripped off.

Three people, including a child, were in the basement of the levelled home when the tornado hit but got out safely, according to Dhaval Naik, who said he works with the home’s owner.

“We watched it touch down like 200 yards (182 metres) over there and then we took shelter,” Elkhorn resident Pat Woods said.

“We could hear it coming through. When we came up our fence was gone and we looked to the north-west and the whole neighbourhoods’ gone.”

KETV-TV video showed one woman being removed from a demolished home on a stretcher in the city Blair, just north of Omaha.

Two people were transported for treatment, both with minor injuries, Ms Bonacci said.

“People had warnings of this and that saved lives,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said of the few serious injuries.

The tornado warning was issued in the Omaha area on Friday afternoon. Many schools had students shelter in place until the storm passed. Hours later, buses were still transporting children home.

The national weather service planned to send out multiple crews over the next several days to determine the number of tornadoes and their strength, which could take up to two weeks.

Another tornado hit an area on the eastern edge of Omaha, passing directly through parts of Eppley Airfield, the city’s airport. Officials halted aircraft operations to access damage but then reopened the facility, Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy said.

After passing through the airport, the tornado crossed the Missouri River and into Iowa, north of Council Bluffs.

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In Lancaster County, sheriff’s officials said they had reports of a tipped-over train near Waverly, Nebraska.

Two people who were injured in the county were being treated at the trauma centre at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln, the facility said. No details were given on their condition.

The Omaha Public Power District reported nearly 10,000 customers were without power in the Omaha area. The number had dropped to about 7,300 by Friday night.

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen posted on the social platform X that he had ordered state resources to be made available to help with the emergency response and to support first responders as they assess the damage.

“Nebraskans are no strangers to severe weather and, as they have countless times before, Nebraskans will help Nebraskans to rebuild,” Mr Pillen said.

Daniel Fienhold, manager of the Pink Poodle Steakhouse in Crescent, Iowa, said he was outside watching the weather with his daughter and restaurant employees, recalling “it looked like a pretty big tornado was forming.”

“It started raining, and then it started hailing, and then all the clouds started to kind of swirl and come together, and as soon as the wind started to pick up, that’s when I headed for the basement, but we never saw it,” Mr Fienhold said.

AP