At least 11 injured, airport shut down
A tornado that was accompanied by a thunderstorm in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday, apart from causing a great amount of damage almost 11 people were injured.
The damage was extensive enough to cause the Kansas City International Airport to shut down, however, it did reopen shortly after.
There was a tornado emergency declared for many parts of Eastern Kansas as dangerous weather was expected in the area and as a precaution, the emergency was declared on Tuesday night.
The Police department in Lawrence in a statement said that the massive storm and tornado had laid waste to the home of the famed Kansas University as it left large trees, power lines, and debris all along the streets that left some major connecting roads too damaged to be traversable.
A spokesperson from the Lawrence Memorial Hospital said that there were 11 people injured in the town but most of them were minor injuries and the fact that the Kansas University was already out for their Summer break helped avoid a large student population from being in the crosshairs of the tornado and storms.
The Kansas City International Airport had two flights that were diverted to other airports and those waiting at the airport were rushed to the parking garage tunnels at around 7 in the evening.
The green signal was issued around 45 minutes later as the worst of the storm seemed to have passed. The airport remained closed, however, due to “unsafe conditions from area storm debris.” The airport planned to reopen after 11 p.m. local time.
“Most structural damage appears to have occurred near Lawrence as the tornado passed just outside the city limit,” the Lawrence Police Department said in a tweet.
“Please do not go sightseeing tornado damage. This only hampers the efforts of emergency workers.”
The storms that have been assaulting the central states of the U.S. have not caused a great amount of damage thus far much to the satisfaction and comfort of the Government.