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Tornado
Season
Tornado season opened with quite a show. Apparently 200 tornadoes per year is the national average, but there have been over 300 in the US this year. On the evening of Thursday, May 8, 2003, Jane got to learn what Kansans do when we hear the tornado sirens and then those terrifying words "F-4 tornado coming your way" on the alert system. We grabbed the kids and Calli and drove immediately to the nearest community shelter. For us, that is McKinley Elementary School, about 4 blocks away. Our back-up-plan is to run into our neighbor's shelter if we were awakened late in the night and don't have time to get to McKinley. The tornado (which was apparently somewhere between F-3 and F-4) dropped out of the sky about 20 miles to the west, just north of Yates Center, and thankfully skirted the towns of Yates Center, Iola, and Colony in its 27 mile path. The few homes in its way were completely destroyed, but no one was killed and the only injuries were minor. While tornadoes are very scary and destructive, our warning systems help keep people safe, and that is the important thing.
This is a picture that was snapped of the tornado as it passed to the north of Iola. It was 1/4 to 1/2 mile (around 1 km) wide!
Here are some articles from the local paper about area folks who were affected by the tornado:
Last edited on May 11, 2003.