A mobile home park near 52nd Street South and Clifton was heavily damaged by a tornado that swept through Wichita tonight.
There also was a fire burning in the middle of the Pinaire Mobile Home Park, apparently caused by a ruptured natural gas line. There were no immediate reports of how many people might have been injured.
Emergency vehicles were having trouble getting to the park because of extensive damage to trees and power lines in the area. Many emergency responders were arriving on foot to the park.
Shortly after the storm – which swept up from Oklahoma and through Sumner County and south Wichita – passed through, residents of the park were shouting the names of family members who were missing. Other residents were asking people to be quiet so they could hear the voices of people who might be trapped in the debris.
Many residents were gathering at the entrance to the park.
The storms also caused heavy damage at Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing and McConnell Air Force Base.
Boeing spokesman Forrest Gossett said that the plant “took a direct hit.” A skeleton crew was on duty, he said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. The company won’t be able to assess the damage until morning, he said, but it was extensive.
At Spirit AeroSystems, part of the side of the manufacturing process facility was also gone once the storm passed. Officials there also were working late Saturday night to assess damage, and the plant was without power. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Debris was along MacArthur Road along the plant.
The storm that hit the mobile home park was part of a strong system that moved across Kansas, churning up more than a dozen tornados but causing no deaths or major damage across the state by late evening.
The system spawned at least six tornadoes in rural western Kansas Saturday afternoon, including one north of Dodge City that was on the ground for about half an hour.
As the storms swept across the state, a large tornado skirted the city limits of Salina on Saturday evening as another tornado 90 miles away threatened the Reno County city of Pretty Prairie.
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center in Topeka to monitor the storms and prepare to provide assistance needed. But as dusk settled over the state, it appeared that little help was needed.
Emergency management officials said initial reports indicated that structural damage was limited to outbuildings and one home in Rush County.
Minor wind damage was reported in Russell County, where K-18 was closed near Luray and Lucas due to power lines on the road. Minor flooding was reported in low-lying areas around the state.
Concerns about the storm outbreak prompted McConnell Air Force Base to relocate 16 aerial refueling tankers to Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, said base spokeswoman Lt. Jessica Brown.
http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/14/2296843/tornado-heavily-damages-south.html
