VIDEO: Outbreak Generates 97 Preliminary Reports in Kansas

Associated Press / KSAL Staff - Sun 08:37 PM 04/15/2012

What's left of the Patrick family home near Marquette. Kevin Patrick is a teacher at Ell-Saline. Annika Patrick was an intern this summer at KSAL Radio. Their home was destoryed, but the family escaped without injury.

The National Weather Service says Kansas likely had more than a month's worth of tornadoes in this weekend's outbreak.

Mike Hudson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Kansas City, said Sunday that crews are assessing the hardest hit areas from the storms that hit Saturday and Sunday. They're trying to determine how many tornadoes were involved.

Kansas reported widespread damage in Sedgwick and Rice counties, but no fatalities.

In Saline County, ten homes and a business were damaged. In McPherson County, a home on Avenue W near Marquette was destroyed. In Ellsworth County, one home was destroyed near Langley. That tornado is preliminarily rated an EF-4.

Hudson says there were 122 preliminary tornado reports in the region, with most occurring in Kansas, but some of those are likely multiple reports of the same tornado.

He says statistics show Kansas averages 12 tornadoes in April. Hudson says based on the early reports that it's likely there will have been more than 12 tornadoes in Kansas in this outbreak.

Officials were busy Sunday, assessing damage and cleaning up.

According to the the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service says that 97 tornadoes were reported around the state.

The following is a summary of damage from around the state:

According to the Sedgwick County Emergency Operations Center, 17 injuries were reported in Sedgwick County. Thirteen people were taken to Via Christi Hospital in Wichita. Three were admitted and are still in the hospital. Four persons were taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. One was admitted and is still there.

The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka was activated at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. It remained activated until 5 p.m. Sunday, when it was deactivated. Early Sunday morning, Governor Sam Brownback issued a declaration of a State of Disaster Emergency for 39 counties; four counties, Edwards, Kiowa, Rice and Sedgwick, also made local declarations.

Rice and Sedgwick Counties were the hardest hit among the many counties that reported damage. Rice County officials reported sseveral buildings were damaged and debris blocked some minor roads. Four separate tank batteries near 2nd Ave. and Ave. H were damaged, releasing 50 to 100 gallons of oil into a containment area. The sheriff’s office was damaged and the jail roof was blown off; prisoners were transferred to off-site facilities. County 911 dispatch center has been transferred to the regional 911 Back-up center.

In Sedgwick County, Pinaire Mobile Home Park in the Oaklawn area of Wichita received significant damages. Fifty-seven mobile homes were damaged to greater than 75 percent, 35 mobile homes damaged more than 50 percent and 61 mobile homes were damaged less than 50 percent.

Six other homes were reported destroyed, three were damaged and a condominium was damaged. All buildings at the Spirit Aerosystems facility received some damage; six sustained significant damage. Other damage in the county included a gas line rupture, debris and power poles down. Approximately 100 area residents were sheltered overnight by the American Red Cross in Derby; 25 are still being sheltered.

Other damage reports from across the state include:

· Barton County – Power lines down

· Butler County – Large trees uprooted in El Dorado, causing damage to homes and vehicles.

· Chase County – Utility poles broken

· Cherokee County – Minor wind damage

· Dickinson County – Power lines were downed and a home was damaged.

· Edwards County – Signs down and debris blown around. Minor flooding and some irrigation equipment was flipped over.

· Ellsworth County – One home was destroyed near Langley. One trailer destroyed and power lines down

· Ford County – Hail knocked out windows in Kingsdown.

· Harper County – Power lines down. Some outbuildings destroyed

· Harvey County – Several outbuildings were damaged and power lines knocked down.

· Hodgeman County – Three homes with minor damage. Outbuildings destroyed and damage to an irrigation system. Power lines down.

· Kiowa County – Two homes destroyed, five homes damaged. Power poles down

· Marion County – One home destroyed, two damaged. Outbuildings destroyed and power poles down

· Marshall County – Power loss to approximately 200 residences in Bremen and Herkimer

· McPherson County – A home on Avenue W near Marquette was destroyed; damages reported to outbuildings

· Mitchell County – Some power lines down and outbuildings damaged

· Ottawa County – Damage to tanks at a gas transfer station and some outbuildings; power lines down

· Rush County – Three farmsteads had damaged or destroyed outbuildings. One home was damaged in Loretta and one farmstead was damaged in the Bison-Timken area.

· Russell County – Trees and power poles down resulting in power outages primarily in the Lucas and Luray communities plus isolated rural customers. K-18 was temporarily closed due to power lines on the road.

· Saline County – Ten homes and one business damaged.

· Sumner County – One unconfirmed report of a house damaged

· Stafford County – Minor damage to some homes. Power poles down, outbuildings destroyed and farm equipment damaged

· Power outages were reported in a number of counties.

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