Andover tornado reminds us what matters: we’re Kansans and we’re all in this together
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Tornado cuts through Sedgwick County and Andover, Kansas
An EF-3 tornado touched down in south-central Kansas on April 29, 2022, leaving damage in its wake, but few injuries. Residents in the Wichita area, Andover and Sedgwick and Butler counties are picking up the pieces.
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It seems like just yesterday we were arguing over who’s fault it is that we’re paying a dollar more for gas; whether we should be allowed to bet on sports; whether teachers should have to post their lesson plans online.
We can be a feisty bunch.
Then something comes along and reminds us that we live in a dangerous place — and we’re all in this together.
As I write this early the morning after, I don’t know the full extent of Andover Tornado II.
But I do know it’s bad.
It was the picture-perfect storm, a funnel of destruction unobscured by intervening weather or distance. It happened in broad daylight and we watched in awe and horror — in real time — as the twister slowly marched through Andover, leaving destruction behind it.
It was visible from rooftops in downtown Wichita and the freeways throughout the metro area. TV cameras and cell-phone livestreams on the ground showed us not just the tornado, but the incredible cloud of debris it was picking up and throwing around as it slowly passed through town.
It seemed like it would never end.
When it did, we saw the devastation it left behind.
The Dr. Jim Farha YMCA, the shining symbol of Andover civic pride, is now is in ruins, its roof torn off, its glass walls blown out. Cars that were in the parking lot on a busy Friday evening were stacked against the front of the building like Hot Wheels that had been stomped on and pushed aside in a child’s tantrum.
We saw homes without roofs, triangular trusses pointing skyward as though they’re under construction, not deconstruction. We saw homes that were completely blown apart and steel commercial buildings warped and pushed off their foundations.
We are witnesses to destruction.
But we are also witnesses to a miracle.
Despite the devastation, there have been no fatalities reported and the injury toll is light.
It is a humbling experience.
And we are humbled.
My own introduction to Greensburg and Hoisington, towns I’d never even heard of before, came by way of devastating tornadoes I covered there.
I’ll never forget the people I met — people who had lost everything, but a few days later were ready to meet the future with renewed hope and an unfailing determination to recover and rebuild their towns.
I’m certain Andover will be the same. They rebuilt after an even more devastating tornado that hit the city 31 years ago this week.
We’ve been lucky these past few years. The twisters we’ve had have been rare and remote — something to look at pictures of and say “Wow!” but that didn’t affect our lives all that much.
This is different — out there and here in the newsroom.
This is our first “all hands” call since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and many of us started working from home. As I write this, every newsperson at The Eagle’s disposal is either here in the newsroom or in the field working on this story.
We’ve recruited extra help — some energetic young student journalists from the Wichita State University Sunflower, who right now are getting a crash course in how news organizations handle major disasters.
Wichita and Sedgwick County emergency responders have joined their Butler County colleagues to assess the damage and help with search and rescue. They’ve been on the ground all night.
Gov. Laura Kelly declared a State of Disaster Emergency on Friday night, freeing up state personnel to respond.
At this moment in time, the best thing we as the public can do is stay out of their way and let them do their jobs.
The streets in the emergency zone are choked with toppled trees, downed power lines and damaged cars. It isn’t safe to be there yet and the last thing the work crews need right now is a crowd, no matter how well-intentioned.
The United Way of the Plains is running point on what we as individuals can do to aid in Andover’s recovery.
There will be plenty to do. We’re not in a sprint, we’re in a marathon.
One striking fact in this narrative is that the authorities established an emergency shelter in Andover last night and nobody came.
It’s not that there’s no need for shelter; obviously there is.
I think what we’re seeing here is friends and neighbors stepping up and taking on that responsibility, so families rendered homeless by the storm don’t have to sleep on cots in a church gym.
Whatever divided us on Friday morning, we’re all just Kansans on this Saturday.
We’ll get through this.
We always do.
Together.
This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 12:00 AM.
