The Omaha Marching Exhibition (OME), an annual event hosted at Northwest High School, was cut short this year after severe weather moved into the area.
OME traditionally brings together marching bands from across Omaha to showcase their progress and receive feedback from judges ahead of competition season. But on the evening of the event, what began as light rain quickly escalated into heavy downpours and hail, forcing organizers to cancel.
“You lose a little bit of something in the big picture of things, but I don’t think it’ll impact us too greatly,” Band director Kyle Brubaker said.
The Burke High School band, like many others, arrived ready to perform. Students swiftly unloaded equipment from their trailer and moved to the grass field to warm up.
Soon after, however, the rain intensified. As hail began to fall, students rushed toward their buses for shelter, only to find that many drivers had left the vehicles locked. The band members instead hurried inside the school building, where they waited for updates.
By then, conditions had made it unsafe for the exhibition to continue. Event staff announced the official cancellation, leaving the students and the director disappointed but understanding of the decision.
“We are sad and disappointed that we were unable to perform. We had worked really hard, and it was going to be our first performance outside of a football game and some smaller family events we’ve done,” Brubaker said.
