Mile-Wide Tornado Devastates KS Town
Friday night turned deadly in the Plains as nearly 30 tornado reports peppered the central states, mostly Kansas. In Greensburg, Kansas [Google Map], seven people were killed as a tornado more than a mile wide tore through the town, destroying 75% of the structures and derailing a train (CNN has photos). I'll take a more in-depth look at this twister later today.Channel 12 and KAKE have lots of videos of the tornado, damage, and the aftermath, including live streaming video from Channel 12 all day.
People walk past an overturned vehicle in Greensburg, Kan. early Saturday morning, May 5, 2007 after a tornado ripped through this southwest Kansas community and killed at least one person. The tornado struck Friday night, leaving a broad swath of destruction in the Kiowa County town about 110 miles west of Wichita. (AP Photo/Andrew Mahoney)
A report from our Wichita office reads:
Blog reader Chris pointed out this desperate warning from the National Weather Service, breaking their normally-robotic Tornado Warnings language:
"AT 1120 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF MACKSVILLE... MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.... MACKSVILLE... ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF TOWN...MAY TAKE A DIRECT HIT FROM THIS VIOLENT TORNADO!! TAKE COVER NOW!!"
Incredibly, the same area is under a Moderate to HIGH Risk of Severe Thunderstorms today, so more storms with more tornadoes are likely tonight (see graphic at right). Stay tuned for video blog updates this afternoon and evening.
*Death toll updated from "two" to "seven" via Channel 12 report at 1 PM Central.
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