Second round of storms claims tenth victim over weekend
3:58 p.m. Sunday, May 6, 2007
The Friday-night storm killed at least eight people in the Greensburg area and a ninth person in Pratt County. The twister that destroyed the town of Greensburg has been classified as an E-F-5; the strongest possible on the Fujita Scale. The last time a tornado that size hit the U.S. was in 1999, when an F-5 tornado hit Oklahoma City, killing 36 people. But while that storm let up into Saturday morning, the damage didn’t end there.
Another round of storms hit late Saturday, claiming the life of a tenth victim in Ottawa County. A woman was killed Saturday evening when a tornado struck her camper 10 miles north of Bennington. Three others were injured in the incident.
Widespread flooding has been reported throughout central Kansas, the result of heavy rains throughout the night. Barton, Douglas, Jefferson, Lincoln, Nemaha, Osage, Reno, Riley and Saline Counties all reported heavy flooding. Harper, Lincoln, Osage and Riley Counties issued local disaster declarations due to flooding. Parts of the Kansas Turnpike, as well, as a number of local and state roads were closed due to the flooding.
Topeka Flooding
Storms throughout the night caused serious flooding across Topeka as well. See video.
Risings waters reaching knee deep, even waist deep levels, sent people living in Ogden scrambling to gather belongings, and get out on Sunday.
"We woke up and it was all flooded. Right now we're just trying to clean our house out before it goes in,” said Ogden resident Billie Blair.
The flood closed all but one road into the town, and stirred up flashbacks from when the town flooded more than a decade ago.
"It was worse this morning than in 1993," said Scott Habluetzel, who helped neighbors during the flooding.
Just as the waters started to recede, giving neighbors a chance to pack up and go to shelters, another dousing of trouble poured overhead.
In Manhattan, authorities were asking residents of two apartment complexes to leave. The evacuations were voluntary.
The American Red Cross has established shelters in Manhattan and Ogden to accommodate persons displaced by flooding. The Manhattan shelter is at the Pottorff Shelter at Cico Park on Avery Drive. The Ogden shelter is at the Ogden Community Center, 220 Willow St.
All highways and roads going into Burlingame were shut down Sunday due to flooding. Roads went under water as the creek overflowed its banks. City workers were under Highway 56 trying to free debris that was threatening to break a gas line.
A train derailed early Sunday near Fort Riley; authorities are blaming high waters that caused a trestle bridge to collapse under the weight of two locomotives. For more on that story, click here.
Elsewhere, a tornado in Wabaunsee County left one family with major damage to their home.
The twister hit around 10:30 Saturday night, shredding trees, breaking windows and ripping off satellite dishes. The roof of the house was a total loss. David and Ursula Ingram, who own the house, were not home when the tornado hit, but say it could have been a lot worse.
"We heard about some storms hitting the area and a tornado in the area and we even joked ‘we hope our house is going to be there.’ We'll it is, or what's left of it,” said Ursula Ingram.
Ingram says this is not the first time the home has been hit by a twister. The house was leveled in the 1940's by another tornado.
Over in Washington County, winds reaching up to 70 mph uprooted trees and caused some major damage.
Some good-samaritans cut up trees after cleaning up the square in the wake of the storm. Crews had been working since early Sunday morning to fix damaged telephone poles, and the town of Washington is being powered by generator.
The storm also brought down a barn and ripped off pieces of tin roof. And with the Mill Creek coming out of its banks, residents worry about how much more rain additional storms could bring.
We will continue to bring you updates on storm damage in across Northeast Kansas.
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