Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Tornado ravages town in Kansas
Road crash kills 3 storm-spotting OU meteorology students
WICHITA, Kan. — A tornado that barreled through parts of Kansas destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and buildings, injured several people and left more than 15,000 people without power, officials said Saturday.
In addition to wreckage from the tornado, three University of Oklahoma meteorology students traveling back from storm chasing in Kansas were killed in a crash Friday evening, according to officials.
Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas; Gavin Short, 19, of Grayslake, Ill.; and Drake Brooks, 22, of Evansville, Ind., died in the crash shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.
A statement released by OU said: “The university is devastated to learn of the tragic passing of three students. Each were valued and loved members of our community.”
More than 1,000 buildings were affected when a strong twister swept through Andover on Friday evening, authorities said. In the daylight Saturday, emergency crews found a more widespread path of destruction than had been estimated.
“We now know that our damage path extended approximately 3½ to 4 miles to the north of where we believed it to have ended last night,” Andover Deputy Fire Chief Mike Roosevelt said at a briefing.
There were no reported fatalities or critical injuries from the tornado itself. Officials said only a few injuries had been reported. In Sedgwick County, three people were injured, including a woman who suffered serious injuries.
Search-and-rescue operations continued Saturday by more than 200 emergency responders from 30 agencies.
Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell said earlier that some neighborhood homes “were completely blown away.” There are homes knocked completely off their foundations and entire neighborhoods wiped out, he said.
Field crews from the National Weather Service worked Saturday to determine the extent and strength of the twister, said meteorologist Kevin Darmofal at the Wichita office.
Flor and Aldo Delgado said they prayed in the basement of their Andover home as a tornado passed right above them, destroying their home and cars.
The couple looked out the window Friday night and saw the tornado beginning to form, so they headed to the basement.
Flor Delgado said she could hear their home being torn apart as they prayed for their safety, the Wichita Eagle reported.
“In the moment, I realized there is absolutely nothing we could do. I knew my husband felt it too because he was calm and comforting me, but at one point he just starts losing it and crying. I could hear his voice cracking as he’s praying,” she said.
Once the tornado passed, the couple made it out of the debris with only the clothes on their backs. Their home, cars and personal items are gone.
Gov. Laura Kelly declared a state-of-disaster emergency for the hardest-hit areas. The declaration makes state resources available to help local jurisdictions with response and recovery efforts in the affected areas.
Electric company Evergy said about 15,000 customers lost power during the tornado and that work continued to restore electricity. Any broken gas and water lines were shut off and by noon there were no known active leaks.
In addition to the tornadoes, large hail was reported in several towns across the Plains. Hail the size of softballs was spotted near Holbrook, Neb., and Enterprise, Kan., according to the weather service and storm spotters.