Tornado

If you heard tornado sirens in Wichita this morning, there is nothing to worry about. Sedgwick County emergency dispatchers say it was just a malfunction.  There is no current threat of severe weather.  The cause of the malfunction is not known. 

by Eyewitness News & The Associated Press A volunteer firefighter in North Carolina says "it's just about as bad as it gets. " Authorities say the tornado that swept through a mobile home community has left behind piles of debris and at least seven dead. The governor's office says dozens of homes in Riegelwood, west of Wilmington, have been destroyed. And the county commission chairman says the death toll "very well may go up. " Body counts have been fluctuating while emergency crews use back hoes and front-end loaders to sift through the rubble in a search for more bodies.

In June of 2008 a tornado ran through the town of Chapman. It destroyed the middle school, elementary school and most of the high school. The situation in Oklahoma is familiar to those in Chapman, but they say what they went through was different. "The biggest difference, and people talk about it a lot, we are very fortunate with one fatality only," middle school principal Bruce Hurford said. "That's not even the same comparison as loss of students. " However, the people of Moore, will have to rebuild, just as Chapman did. The schoold district put many of the students in mobile units when school started the next fall.

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) - A Liberal man who was hurt in the May 4th tornado that destroyed Greensburg has died of injuries he suffered that night, making him the 12th victim of the storm. Max McColm died Wednesday at the Indian Meadows Health Care Center in Overland Park. He was 77. McColm was staying with his daughter, Beverly Volz, in Greensburg while recovering from shoulder surgery when the tornado hit. Volz died May 5 in Dodge City. McColm suffered brain damage after he was hit in the head with a large piece of metal.

Thursday evening update:  The National Weather Service says a EF3 tornado swept through parts of Saline County Wednesday night with winds speeds of 138-167 miles per hour.      Some of the hardest hit were homes along Holmes Rd. southeast of Salina. There were no injuries in Saline County. The City of Salina sustained damage, however that was mostly from downed tree limbs. by Tracy Crockett Early Thursday, The National Weather Service headed out to survey damage in the Salina area.

You're at home and there's a tornado warning. What do you do? Should you take the time to open the windows in your house? The theory is that opening your windows will equalize the air pressure and keep your house from exploding. That's never been proven. You're more likely to be hit by flying glass if you're still opening windows when the twister hits. You've probably also heard you should go to your basement or the lowest level in your home. That is usually true but don't buy into the fact that you must go to the Southwest corner. The National Weather Service says tornados can move in any direction and a tornado can shove debris, like vehicles into a basement.

Property owners in the neighborhoods directly in the path of the tornado can leave tree limbs and brush at the curb for collection in the coming days.  Specific boundaries for cleanup areas will be indentified and released later.  Click here to see photos of storm damage. Other debris can be hauled for disposal at one of the four sites listed below. Regular disposal fees will apply to the property owner. Hazardous household waste - including chemicals, paints, batteries, and other such waste - needs to be separated and taken to the Household Hazardous Waste facility at 801 Stillwell in Wichita.  The facility's regular hours are from 9am. - 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9am - 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Winds from the Oaklawn tornado were not strong enough to blow over this "for sale" sign on 52nd Street. But they did leave a mess of limbs in the driveway. "Outside of that, the home appeared to be fine,” says Re/MAX realtor, Kirk Short, the listing agent for this house. "With tornadoes and weather damage, it's hit or miss,” says Short. “You'll have one house that gets hit.  And the house right next door gets no damage. "  He says his listings weren't damaged.

It's been four years since a devastating tornado ripped through the small town of Greensburg, Kansas. In 2007, a massive EF-5 tornado tore a path through the Kiowa County town. The twister killed 13 people and hurt dozens of others...it also damaged or destroyed over a thousand homes. Since the tornado, the town has worked to rebuild as a "green" town which showcases technology aimed at saving energy and protecting the environment.

It was originally scheduled for after the April 14 tornado hit the Oaklawn area of Sedgwick County. Several residents turned out for the delayed Severe Weather Safety Class at the Oaklawn Community Center Thursday night. The classes are developed by the National Weather Service and presented by Sedgwick County Emergency Management. Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the tornado that swept through Oaklawn and southeast Wichita that Saturday night nearly a month ago.

Here are some of the many ways you can help the people of Oklahoma as they deal with massive cleanup and recovery efforts . If you want to help in the relief efforts - the best thing you can do is send money.  The Kansas Division of Emergency Management is urging anyone who wants to contribute to relief efforts to donate cash rather than goods. "It is such a heartbreaking situation we are witnessing with our neighbors in Oklahoma and I know a lot of people want to help because that is just the way Kansans are," said Gov. Sam Brownback.

The National Weather Service said damage to a Rozel home over the weekend was caused by an EF-4 tornado. The thunderstorm developed east of Dodge City around 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The storm intensified, prompting a tornado warning over Pawnee County. The tornado was on the ground for about 10 miles, damaging five farms, snapping trees and electrical poles in its path. The path was 1,100 yards wide. No one was hurt in Saturday's storm.

In June of 2008 a tornado ran through the town of Chapman. It destroyed the middle school, elementary school and most of the high school. The situation in Oklahoma is familiar to those in Chapman, but they say what they went through was different. "The biggest difference, and people talk about it a lot, we are very fortunate with one fatality only," middle school principal Bruce Hurford said. "That's not even the same comparison as loss of students. " However, the people of Moore, will have to rebuild, just as Chapman did. The schoold district put many of the students in mobile units when school started the next fall.

The tornado that struck Moore on Monday was a rare EF5, the highest rating the National Weather Service assigns in classifying the strength of tornadoes. It was the second of that magnitude to hit the community in 14 years. Some Kansans have been through a similar violent storm, and still have nightmares about that day. Families in Greensburg are reminded daily about an EF-5 tornado that destroyed their community six years ago. Siblings Carolyn and Jason Irvin said watching the images out of Oklahoma have been hard to watch.

Storm Team 12 Chaser Scott Roberts has seen a few tornadoes during his career, and like any other, he won't soon forget the deadly tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma. "Standing there and looking up at it and seeing it overcome the right hand side of my view...that will stick," Roberts tells us. Roberts was in his vehicle, just less than a mile away from the tornado.  When it lifted, he made his way to Briarwood Elementary. "I saw it collapsed in the middle," Roberts remembers.  "Then, I heard there were 675 kids in there.

As the sun comes up, residents in Clearwater are back to work cleaning up after an EF-1 tornado struck Sunday afternoon.  Roads in the area have been closed since the tornado, and emergency workers tell us they don't expect those roads to be back open any time soon. As of Monday morning, 135th Street (Clearwater Road) is back open.  Crews hope to have 119th and Tyler back open this afternoon. Crews with Westar Energy are also working to restore power to more than a thousand customers.  Slowly but surely, the lights are coming back on for south Sedgwick County residents.  Outages were also reported in Butler and Sumner Counties.

Sedgwick County residents continue to clean up what torndao damage from Sunday afternoon.  Near Clearwater where an EF1 tornado blew through, silos were wrapped around trees, roofs ripped off homes and farm equipment damaged. Click here for Storm Shots Ginny Walton and Chuck Walton, siblings who own a house in the county, had full grown trees pulled out of the grown. “We've got 13 or 14 large trees probably 2-foot in diameter or larger that are down,” said Chuck Walton who spent Monday with his chainsaw cutting the trees into pieces.

A large tornado caused major damage in Moore Oklahoma Monday afternoon.  The tornado stayed on the ground for 40 minutes causing damage to homes, businesses and schools. Storm Team 12 Storm Chaser Scott Roberts says he was about 500 yards from the south edge of the tornado when it moved through. He says Briarwood Elementary was about 90% destroyed.  He says there were 675 students in the school when the tornado hit. Roberts says the whole neighborhood near the school is a pile of rubble.  He says there are at least two homes with people trapped.  He compared the damage to the 1999 Haysville tornado.

The National Weather Service calls Sunday evening's tornado and EF-1. Larry Pankratz believes the winds topped 100 mph. "I'm sure this storm was more than 110. I'd bet money on it," said Pankratz. His wind generator took the brunt of the wind with hardly any damage. "It made a totally different sound than it probably ever has. I've never heard it make that particular sound," said Pankratz A sound he never wants to hear again because it reminds him of what happened on his property.

Some Wichita residents commute to Moore Oklahoma to work at the Boeing plant in town.  A spokesperson tells us no one was hurt after a major tornado moved through Monday afternoon. The tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes.  When the sirens went off, all employees took cover.  The plant didn't suffer any damage.  The spokesperson says the tornado broke up right before it hit the plant. All employees have been released to go home and check on their families.  There are 100 Boeing employees living in Moore.  The company did not have a break down of how many are from the Wichita area.