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Injuries Reported After Large Tornado Damages Homes In Eastern Kansas

Sam Zeff
/
KCUR 89.3
A tornado knocked down power lines and damaged buildings in Eudora, Kansas.

Updated at 9:49 p.m. with tornado warnings canceled — A large tornado caused damage south of Lawrence and in the small town of Linwood, Kansas, on Tuesday night, but looked to miss the majority of the Kansas City metro area.

Around 30 houses were damaged in Linwood, according to Kim Buchanan, deputy director of Emergency Management in Leavenworth County.

"It is something we haven't seen in Leavenworth County in a very long time," she said. 

A few minor injuries had been reported as of Tuesday evening, she said, and two missing people were located. But search and rescue was continuing.

By 8:30 p.m., the National Weather Service canceled all of the tornado warnings, including those in Clay and Ray counties. The Clay County Sheriff's Twitter account said there was damage reported east of Kearney, Missouri, too.

The first report of a tornado touching down in the area was at 6:15 p.m., Douglas County Emergency Management PIO Bob Newton told KCTV5. He said there were no immediate reports of injuries, but there was damage in Pleasant Grove, south of Lawrence. 

“We’ve had several homes significantly damaged," he said, adding, "Power lines down all over in that area."

Matt May, the Director of Emergency Management of Wyandotte County, said that as of about 8:15 p.m., there wasn’t any significant damage, just minor debris damage. He did caution that his crew was in the preliminary stages of damage assessment.

“It’s mostly been what I call tornado wrap — typically large pieces of metal that the wind catches them and rips them off, signage, metal roofs off of buildings, those kinds of things. Sometimes it’s debris that’s not from our area,” May said.

Missouri state Rep. Doug Richey in Excelsior Springs was walking the area near the intersection of Missouri 92 and U.S. 69 north after a tornado passed through the area Tuesday evening.
 
"There's some house damage as it crossed over the highway and a lot of down trees," he said.
 
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Slow news days are a thing of the past. As KCUR’s news director, I want to cut through the noise, provide context to the headlines, and give you news you can use in your daily life – information that will empower you to make informed decisions about your neighborhood, your city and the region. Email me at lisa@kcur.org or follow me on Twitter @larodrig.
Andrea Tudhope is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Kansas City, Missouri. She is currently coordinating producer for America Amplified, a national public media community engagement initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 
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