Two members of Nebraska Task Force 1 in Kentucky assisting after deadly tornadoes 

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Brad Thavenet, a member of Nebraska Task Force 1 and the Battalion Chief of Search and Rescue for Lincoln Fire, was deployed to Kentucky within 24 hours of the natural disaster. He was activated Saturday and arrived at the State Emergency Operation Center in Frankfort, Kentucky early Sunday morning.

“Growing up, all of us living in tornado alley, we’re used to tornadoes, but I think what we’re not used to is the distance this traveled,” Thavenet said. “This is 200 something miles of destruction and although some of it was rural, it definitely took its toll on the populated cities.”

Thavenet is one of two members of the Task Force who were sent to help.

A Captain with Omaha Fire is also there, he’s about three and a half hours southwest, near Mayfield, Kentucky.

“We’re used to a lot of roofs being blown off and trees down and stuff, but here, whole structures were taken over and whole factories, like the candle factory. It just came down in a pile of wreckage, it looks just like a mangled steal mess,” Thavenet said.

Thavenet says he’s the coordination piece of the efforts, the command element.

He’s working hand in hand with the state, assigning positions and telling other Task Force members who are in the field, where they’re going next.

He says this is one of the worst disasters he has seen in his 20-year career with the Task Force because of how spread out the devastation is.

Thavenet says seeing the rubble brings back memories from his childhood.

“I grew up in Grand Island and the tornadoes of the 1980s, so I witnessed some of that as a kid, the destruction, so I definitely feel for all of the destruction, and families, the loss,” Thavenet said.

He says he is here for the long haul and is prepared to stay as long as needed.

The rest of Nebraska Task Force 1 is on standby, should there be a need for more help.

The Nebraska Red Cross also has five volunteers assisting in Kentucky to help with the response, as well.