Severe Weather Wreaks Havoc in Kansas Town

[Astronuc]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070505/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP, May 5, 2007) - Rescuers raced Saturday through the wreckage from a giant tornado that killed at least eight people and left little standing in this southwest Kansas town beyond the local pub. City Administrator Steve Hewitt estimated 95 percent of the town of 1,400 was destroyed and predicted rescue efforts could take days as survivors could be trapped in basements and under rubble.

National Weather Service meteorologist Larry Ruthi said the path of damage was 1.4 miles wide, estimating it would be classified a "upper F-4 or an F-5" tornado, the strongest possible.

Those in the midwest - from West Texas to Minnesota - need to watch out.

I hope we don't see any more like this.

 

[edward]

It seems like there has been a lot of totally weird weather phenomina the last year or so. There was a tornado last week that hit a Texas/Mexico border town and killed ten people.

I don't remember any other report of a tornado that far south., and multiple places being hit with snow and rain all on the same day.

The DFW airport's flight control tower was temporarily evacuated Tuesday night but the airport remained open, said Ken Capps, the airport's vice president of public affairs.

More than 5 inches of rain fell at Holdrege and Kearney, Nebraska.

In Colorado, six buses carrying at least 60 children were stranded when the storm dropped more than a foot of snow in about two hours, said Rob Finley, assistant fire marshal for El Paso County. The children were taken to shelters in the county about 80 miles south of Denver

A tornado damaged several buildings near the small town of Wild Horse about 110 miles southeast of Denver, but no injuries were reported, the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Department said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/04/25/storm.deaths.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

 

[Astronuc]

1002 PM CDT SAT MAY 5 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS...
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL
KANSAS OVERNIGHT. THE MAJORITY OF THE STORMS WILL TAKE PLACE
NORTHWEST OF A LYONS TO SALINA LINE. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE
NUMEROUS TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND FLOODING. MORE
SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST KANSAS AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES. THESE STORMS MAY ALSO BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND
LOCALIZED FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA
SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES WILL BE STRONGLY
DEPENDANT ON HOW MUCH SUNSHINE AND HEATING OCCURS. IN
ADDITION...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY.
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO LATER OUTLOOKS FOR MORE UPDATES.

The National Weather Service is predicting a continuation of severe weather for central Kansas. Tornado warnings continue through night in six states!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/05/severe.weather/index.html

 

[hypatia]

A good reminder to make sure our safty plans are in order. Batteries, radios, flashlights and water. It does look like we're in for a wild summer.

 

[edward]

Not much real danger to the public in Georgia, but "a wildfire burning in the Okefenokee swamp" just sounds very odd. Some parts of Georgia have gone two months without rain.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/30/georgia.wildfires.ap/index.html

 

[Astronuc]

We had some moderate winds last night, and now it is so dry that we have a fire warning.

I don't remember any other report of a tornado that far south

Same area had killer tornado three years ago.

We've been getting tornados or micro-bursts periodically over the last decade or so. I think tornado alley has expanded, with shifts in weather patterns.

We are seeing a lot more species of birds from further south than we did a decade or two ago.

We have had more weather extremes, too.

 

[BobG]

Driving up into the mountains, yesterday, the sun was shining and it was snowing. Almost reminded me of that John Fogarty song.

Of course, once I reached the top, it was cloudy ... and snowing, and thundering, with lightning. Something to see, but not something to linger at the top for very long.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This aerial photograph and the ones that follow show the devastation that occurred when a large tornado struck Greensburg Friday night.
Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/
http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/images/_MG_0319.jpg

 

[hypatia]

The photos are just plain scary. I'm so very sad for the people who live there. Their sense of safty, I'm sure will never be the same.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Incredible! I think this may be the best tornado video that I've ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNL7ASvl4k4&eurl=http://tornadovideos.net/

 

[Astronuc]

Now add to that - Flooding! - on the Missouri River and some tributaries. At least one town may be a complete loss!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_on_re_us/flooding;_ylt=AvY73c7PV2X2LfltgQtcT5hoWrEF

AGENCY, Mo. (AP) - Five burst levees along the Missouri River sent a deluge of water that submerged the tiny town of Big Lake on Tuesday, as thousands in the region fled their homes amid warnings that the flooding could near the devastation of 1993.

The levees broke Monday south of Big Lake and the rush of river water immersed the town on Tuesday, said Mark Sitherwood, presiding commissioner of Holt County. Many of the buildings in town had several feet of water inside, said Holt County Clerk Kathy Kunkel.

"The town is a loss. At this time, we don't know, but it looks like that's what's going to happen," he said.