Kansas tornadoes claim 2 lives, damage K-State campus
Salina Journal, Jeff Cooper
A pickup truck lies in the wreckage of Cecelia Sanchez's home on Holmes Road southeast of Salina, Kan., after a tornado moved through the area.
CHAPMAN, Kan. | At least two people were killed late Wednesday when a line of tornadoes cut a diagonal swath across Kansas, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus.
Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department, said one victim was a woman found outside in a yard in Chapman, in Dickinson County, and the other was a man found outside a mobile home in the Jackson County town of Soldier.
Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department, said one victim was a woman found outside in a yard in Chapman, in Dickinson County, and the other was a man found outside a mobile home in the Jackson County town of Soldier.
Watson said early Thursday morning that a half-mile-wide tornado tore through the central part of town, damaging downtown businesses and destroying more than 60 homes.
Brad Homman, director of administration and emergency services for Dickinson County, estimated that 85 percent of Chapman’s residences were damaged in some way. All three of the schools were damaged, and the high school gymnasium lost part of its roof.
“It went through the heart of the community,” Homman said of the tornado, which hit around 8:20 p.m.
Homman also confirmed the fatality there, but couldn’t provide the victim’s name until next of kin had been notified.
He said three others were critically injured and taken to Geary Community Hospital in Junction City.
Electricity was out all over town, and Homman said the search continued for other possible victims.
“We’re still going through methodically one residence at a time,” he said.
Watson said a shelter had been established in Abilene and victims were being taken there by bus.
A tornado also hit the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, damaging several campus buildings and tossing cars around in parking lots. Several local businesses also received extensive damage, according to the National Weather Service.
“We have reports that the northern part of Kansas State University took a pretty good hit,” said Weather Service meteorologist Ken Harding. “Cars were tossed and there is a lot of damage up there.”
The university said in a statement that no injuries had been reported.
Harding said tornado warnings were still being issued early Thursday for northeast Kansas. That included the town of Soldier, where the second confirmed fatality took place.
In Manhattan, Judy Stubblefield, a math instructor at Garden City Community College, huddled during the storm with other teachers in the basement of a residence hall on the northeast side of campus.
When they emerged they saw debris everywhere. It was the third time in a week-and-a-half severe weather has sent them into the basement, they said.
Holly York, a recent Kansas State graduate, ended up in the basement of her house on the northeast side of campus, where she said she felt thunder shake the building.
“I had a crank radio,” she said. “We had blankets and pillows over us.”
University police were requesting that people stay away from campus overnight because of downed power lines, trees and branches, and areas that had flooded. Several university buildings also were damaged, the university said.
Still, Pat Bosco, associate vice president of institutional advancement and dean of student life, said orientation and enrollment would go on as scheduled Thursday morning.
Harding said search-and-rescue efforts were taking place in several small towns in the path of the storm.
Farther west, the Weather Service said several livestock were killed near Ellsworth by baseball- to softball-sized hail.
www.kansascity.com | 06/12/2008 | Kansas tornadoes claim 2 lives, damage K-State campus
--
Also in Kansas, there was a tornado that moved through Chapman, and 80% of the town was destroyed... yet another Kansas town that's almost been obliterated. These tornadoes outbreaks are getting insane.