Three Nebraskans were among the dead after a tornado swept through an Iowa Boy Scout camp late Wednesday 40 miles north of Omaha. 

“We lost three young men from our state last night and our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured, and of course the families of those who were lost, said Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman. 

Iowa Governor Chet Culver (L) and Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman tour the site where a tornado destroyed a Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux, Iowa, killing four Boy Scouts and injuring at least 48 others. Photo: Nebraska Governor's Office

Destroyed buildings, crushed vehicles, splintered trees and scattered debris dotted the Little Sioux  Scout camp after the tornado roared into the camp around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday.  

Those killed were identified by Iowa public safety officials as Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 14, all from Omaha, and Aaron Eilerts, 13, a camp staff member from Eagle Grove, Iowa. 

Boy Scouts' tents are seen amidst the debris from broken trees and bushes after a tornado destroyed a Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux, Iowa late Wednesday, killing four Boy Scouts and injuring at least 48 others. Photo: Nebraska Governor's Office

All four had taken shelter in a building that was leveled, and all of them were found near its collapsed stone chimney, Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts of America told the Associated Press. 

At least 48 others were injured, some seriously, by the tornado. The National Weather Service said it was an EF3 on the 1-to-5 Enhanced Fujita scale of tornado intensity, with an estimated wind speed of 145 mph. The twister cut a path estimated to be 14 miles long.

On Thursday, Nebraska Governor Dave Heinemann toured the site where the tornado struck with Iowa Governor Chet Culver, and later met with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

“I’ve been out to the site and the destruction from this storm is very, very difficult to see," said Heineman. "You look at that bunk house and it’s amazing we didn’t lose more lives.

 Iowa rescue workers cut through downed branches and dug through debris last night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, had huddled for safety through the twister. They and 25 staff members were attending a week-long leadership training camp. 

Trevor Ruffcom, a 14-year-old who went into the camp after the tornado, told The Omaha World-Herald that the camp had been wiped out. The house of the camp attendant was gone, he said. “Sights I’ve seen, I’m never going to forget,” he said.

Taylor Willoughby, 13, of Bellevue, Neb., said several scouts were getting ready to watch a movie when someone screamed that there was a tornado, The Associated Press reported. "Everyone in the building hunkered down," he said, "but windows were breaking."