Tagged: storms

The tornado systems that roared through Kansas over the weekend had an historic quality to them. An early warning appears to have limited the number of injuries as more than a hundred tornadoes touched down.

Over the weekend, tornadoes ripped through several states, killing at least five people in Oklahoma and causing millions in damage to communities. Among the hardest hit areas was Wichita, Kan., which has seen its share of hardship over the past several years.

People throughout the midwest and around the world had their eyes and their cameras on the storms that swept through the country Saturday. 

"We've got two tornadoes, one in Dallas and one in Arlington. I just watched it plow through a tractor trailer parking lot like it was Godzilla in a temper tantrum."

That's how NPR's Wade Goodwyn just described the images being shown on local television in Texas.

The images from WFAA, the local ABC affiliate in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, show tractor trailers flailing across the air in the middle of a dark debris ball.

Emergency responders say that is was probably a tornado that ripped through the tiny town of Harveyville, Kansas last night.

Kansas City, Mo. – The council made up of Kansas City's six major industrial districts is warning that levees holding back rivers are in precarious condition. And money to do restoration work is barely being provided.

Kansas City's lowest lying areas are the industry districts, Central and Northeast Industrial, Dotson, Blue Valley, Swope and Bi State Turkey Creek. There are sixty miles of levees between 30 and more than 50 years old.

Kansas City, Mo. – Thunderstorm winds raked a goodly portion of the metro region this morning, tipping trucks, tearing roofs and cutting electricity.

Wind blasts were estimated as high as 85 miles an hour, either as straight line or microburst. As many as 20,000 KCP&L customers in Kansas City, Missouri were without power. Another 10,000 rural homes and businesses in Platte County lost electricity.

The storm affected driving, safety and commerce in hundreds of businesses.