A tornado that swept through city outside Wichita, Kansas on Friday evening caused significant damage, tearing apart houses and power lines, uprooting trees and throwing cars at buildings. No deaths were reported.
It was previously reported that the number of damaged structures in in city Andover, from 50 to 100, but additional field reports from emergency crews on On Saturday, it emerged that up to 1,000 structures may have been damaged as officials continued to conduct checks to determine full influence.
Damage path extended about four miles north of where officials believe it ended Friday night, said Mike Roosevelt, deputy chief of Andover Fire and Rescue Service, in a news conference on Saturday afternoon. He added what number of damaged structures are likely to “continue rise how the day goes on”.
Numerous photos posted on social media showed homes flattened and cars turned upside down down on lawns.
Emergency management officials said few people sustained injuries, and most of them were minor, although one fireman was taken to area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Chad Russell, fire main of The Andover Fire and Rescue Service said in previously news conference broadcast on Wichita TV channel KAKE, which is “pretty much” people were supposed to be rescued late Friday night, but it wasn’t one stayed in need of save like of Saturday morning. In some of neighborhood, he added”the houses were completely blown up down”.
Residents received warnings from the National Weather Service eight minutes before the tornado hit. Their quick response to warnings prevented more serious injuries and deaths, said Chance Hayes, meteorologist with service. “They hosted in homesthey sheltered in enterprises, they sought refuge in any place they could get out of harm way,” he said.
Jalynn Michler, 31, tried to talk her into 5-year-old daughter to practice for weekend dance concert warning sirens wailed. A few seconds later, she said, a friend called her and told her that a tornado was approaching her. way. A friend sent her a video of a dark twisting cloud that seemed just behind Ms Michler home.
“She said bring your girls in now in the basement,” Ms. Michler said. “By tone of her voice i knew it must be close to house. We get tornado threats all the time and usually you just walk down to the basement, but it was quite different. This one was real”.
Miss Michler rode out storm with her husband and two daughters in basement bathroom. They went out to find their home intact, but Ms. Michler found out that Prairie Creek Elementary School, where she works as a teacher special education teacher, was hit. There, windows and parts of the roof was blown out, according to residents. The school authorities assessed the damage on Saturday.
Renee Thompson Cunningham, 51, spent Friday night with her husband and two sons are sitting in their driveway watches the brewing storm. But what family The usual spring rain turned into an ominous one when Ms. Cunningham turned 14 years old.year-old son pointed to “a huge dark cloud,” she said.
“He indicated out a cloud and we watched it start spinning and then just turned into this full tornado,” Ms. Cunningham said. “I never saw anything like that in my life. You could see the debris flying up from the field behind our division. This is just got bigger and bigger.”
She said that while family was lucky and her house remained intact, a friend lost it all home. “They hid under the stairs and were trapped,” Ms Cunningham said. “But some people heard their cries for help and got them out”.
tornado, which hit Andover was one of a few that touched down in Kansas and Nebraska. Tornado damage elsewhere in These conditions were less serious, according to the Met Office. hail up up to four inches in reported diameter in rural area of southern Nebraska.
Tornado has come just a few days after 31st anniversary of strong tornado that hit And more in 1991 killing 17 people13 of who were in a mobile home the park.
Serious thunderstorms expected in parts of Plains, Midwest and South this weekend. Areas of northeast New Mexico and West Texas could face severe impacts. thunderstorms on Sunday, leading to increased fire risk in parts of Texas Panhandle.
Brandon Whipple, Mayor of Wichita said on Saturday when the emergency response began in city, including the orphanage that was opened in Church. He called people to remain off streets to do way for emergency vehicles. “PLEASE stay safe, respect warnings and have a plan of action in in case another tornado touches down,” He wrote on Twitter.
Tornado in Andover, and city of nearly 15,000 people were part of of heavy storm system that damaged houses, trees and power lines in According to state officials, several counties in Kansas.
In addition to hitting Butler County, which includes Andover, the tornado hit some of Sedgwick County West of Butler, although only minor injuries were reported, according to Sedgwick County officials.
Andover Police Department reported followers on your Facebook page, so as not to travel to city. Police also confirmed that many roads leading in city – some are littered with debris and downed power lines – were closed so that they could correctly assess the degree of damage.
Winds of up up to 45 mph is expected to continue in Wichita area on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, creating potentially hazardous conditions for emergency teams. Potentially serious thunderstorms are also expected on Monday.
While officials assessed the damage, Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas declared a state of Emergency on Friday evening.
“We learned from past experience that we can’t wait for storm hit before we answer,” she said. in statement. “Taking these steps early we can more respond quickly when counties ask for help”.
