At least four people were injured as a result of a tornado in the Wichita, Kansas area on Friday night, authorities said.
About 1,000 structures were damaged between Sedgwick County, where at least one tornado first formed, and Butler County. Inside a press conference early Saturday afternoon, authorities said they expected that number to rise as they concluded an official damage assessment.
On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service said its preliminary assessment of a reported tornado in Butler County measured it at EF 3, meaning it generated winds between 158 and 206 mph.
The vortex traversed land from eastern Sedgwick County to Andover in Butler County and into Benton for 21 minutes starting at 8:10 p.m., the service said in a statement. public information statement.
The evaluation was made by observing its route and its damage. A possible second tornado was being evaluated in Rosalía, east of Wichita, he added.
Four injuries were reported, most of them minors, Andover Deputy Fire Chief Mike Roosevelt, who is Butler County’s incident commander during the tornado recovery and response, said at the news conference.
All four people are adults. One was injured by debris, one was injured during the evacuation, and two responded to the scene to assist, Wichita’s NBC affiliate KSN reported.
At least one person was seriously injured, Kevin Lanterman, acting manager of Sedgwick County EMS, said early saturday morning.
the damage through Andover It was evident on Saturday morning, KSN informed.
“We’ve had a lot of buildings in Andover that have sustained really serious damage,” said Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell. “Some of our neighborhoods were so damaged that houses were completely destroyed.”
Authorities were working to complete the damage assessment on Saturday morning. Roosevelt said they had completed the first phase and almost 70% of the second phase.
The Greater Wichita YMCA said in a declaration that the YMCA in Andover, east of the city, suffered “significant damage.”
“We are grateful that all staff and members who sheltered at the branch at the time of the storm were uninjured,” the YMCA said.
Andover City Hall was also damaged.
As the National Weather Service continued to assess the damage, it asked the public to avoid areas affected by the storm.
“These evaluations take time, so please be patient,” the service said. he said on Twitter. “Please be alert to our first responders and residents to avoid damaged areas.”
Russell said officials believe there are no pending rescues, but further evaluation is underway.
Scott Stueven, deputy chief of Butler County EMS services, said he has received five requests from EMS patients, including two firefighters. One was hospitalized and both were in “good condition,” he said.
Most of the injury reports are from minor cuts, scrapes and falls, he said, with no serious injuries.
–
–
–
Andover Police mentioned Overnight, most of the city’s major intersections were blocked by debris or downed utility lines.
At least 1,300 Kansas utility customers lost power Saturday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.
Julie Stimson, director of emergency management for Sedgwick County, said KSN of Wichita said Friday night that county employees went door-to-door to check on residents.
“We have power outages,” he said. “There is damage. We don’t need spectators right now.
kansas governor laura kelly tweeted On Friday he had activated the backup and backup plan.
Sedgwick County officials have declared an emergency by activating their emergency operations center, according to a statement. The declaration will help the county secure state aid, officials said.
The National Weather Service blamed a strong storm system in the central Lower 48 that drew precipitation from the Gulf of Mexico while producing strong wind shear.
“There will be potential for significant tornadoes, destructive wind gusts and very large hail with an emphasis from southeastern Nebraska into eastern Kansas,” the service said in a forecast discussion Friday.
Initially, 14 tornadoes were reported in southern Nebraska and Kansas on Friday, with an additional tornado near Fort Myers, Florida. A dozen large hail events were also reported across the plains, with hail as large as golf balls.
The National Weather Service previously warned of thunderstorms in Nebraska and Kansas that could feed tornadoes as strong as FE 2which defines tornadoes with winds of 113 to 157 mph.
–
