Was at work in Ottawa watching it move from SW to NE east of town on radar the entire time. was awful looking. Thank goodness no lives were taken that day.
I had spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express in Bonner Springs the night before this tornado. I had asked the person who checked me in if they got any tornados around there and the person told me that the way the weather outside was (hot and humid) is what causes them. I watched the local news that night before going to bed and the weather report said that there was a good possibility for tornados the next day. I left around 10am that morning and told the girl at the counter to be careful as they were calling for tornados and she replied that she had not known that. I drove through Lawrence on my way down to Dodge City and as I was sitting down to dinner that night, I saw that there had been a large tornado that went past Lawrence and came near Bonner Springs. I could not believe that I had just been talking about tornados with the staff and had just missed one by a few hours.
I’m from Overbrook where it touched down but was in Texas when this happened years later I worked at the greenhouse that was demolished. Massive Multi million dollar greenhouse was basically completely leveled. There was one guy working at the time who had to run the length of the greenhouse and grasp a tractor to not get taken up
By the time this reached Kansas City, it jumped across KCK near Legends (a bit north of). My wife and I are about 7 miles south of that, in Shawnee, and knowing we were safe it was haunting to still hear the jet engine roar over our TV from that far away.
I remember that day. I was trying to leave Lawrence before it hit and didn’t make it out before the sirens sounded and was told to take cover. That was my first experience with a tornado.
My brother goes to this school and thankfully wasn't there when this happened, but his roommate/friend from high school was. He was at the movie theater when the tornado hit and was thankfully safe, but just to think that he could've been injured or killed by this monster is appalling.
Same. I will never forget seeing this 11:22 and then our neighborhood in its path. Luckily, it picked up and went on its way to Kearney as an ef2. I was positive we’d lose everything that day 😭
I work on campus in the Burge Union on the KU campus and I went to work for shelter. I just got to my job and pulled my car into the loading dock . About 4 minutes later you could see the tornado pass to the south of Lawrence about a mile south of the super Walmart.
Thank you. Been doing this a long time and try not to let my adrenaline over power my message. It's critical to keep your cool when making very fast and critical life or death choices when chasing.
I REMEMBER THIS DAY I WAS GOING TO THE BONNER SPRINGS YMCA TO DO SOME WEIGHT LIFTING AND I REMEMBER NOT BEING THERE VERY LONG WHEN THE YMCA STAFF MEMBER SIGNAL ME TO COME UP FRONT AND SAID THAT THE BONNER SPRINGS CITY HALL SAID THAT THE TIBLOW WAS ON ITS WAY TO PICK ME UP BECAUSE THE WEATHER WAS GETTING VERY BAD AND VERY DANGEROUS.
A family friend had their home hit in south lawrence. We almost got hit. We could feel the tornado coming. It was scary. I went the next day to help clean up the family friends yeard. It was devastating. They were also out of town at the time.
I lived in SE Lawrence, this tornado missed my house by about 1 1/2 miles. I was amazed at the volume of it, indescribable sound as I've never heard an adequate comparison. The lights started flickering as the volume increased. That's about as scared as I've ever been. It sounded like horizontal rain sheets hitting the house until the sound of the tornado drowned it out. Luckily it missed us but an hour or so afterward I found some debris in the yard. I don't know what it was, it was man made & may have been insulation from one of the rural homes it hit. It wasn't there when I'd gone out previously so it took a long time to fall from the height it was propelled to.
Well I don't remember this but my cousin lives in Lawrence but they never talked about this. I don't know if it didn't hit them. I live in Olathe and remember looking out the wind like 3 years ago when the sirans went off and seeing a big blob in the clouds far off. I also remember when I was visiting my cousins recently there were always trees down and this highway and other roads that haven't grown back for 2 years. My mom always said tornados never hit Olathe they always hit Lawrence. I hope everone is safe and has recovered from it. At 6:11 OMG THAT WAS WERE I DROVE PAST AND SAY THE TREES DAMAGED ON THE LEFT!
They need to send a video feed towards the station. When under the mesocyclone, you will often lose coverage. Plus, there was no need for this spotter to be that close. Many of those driving towards it were clueless drivers who did not know they were driving towards a major tornado. If I were chasing this, I would have been closer but for a large, rain wrapped monster like this, the rain will completely blind you if you are near it. Getting too close is a high risk low reward situation.
I had just moved into DeSoto from Michigan two weeks before this happened and didn't have house insurance yet (imagine my surprise seeing you drive on Penner and hearing the DeSoto siren!), and I still think it's absolutely wild that it missed DeSoto completely. That was a really great welcome to Kansas.
I will never forget this day. I remember being at my home in Leavenworth when the tornado sirens suddenly went off. I went inside to grab my stuff, but once I came outside, I could hear the roar of the tornado. It was headed straight for my town. Eventually, it shifted course and headed east, but I also have respect for all of the families who were impacted by the tornado.
I used to live in Lawrence and when this tornado touched down I was out of town the house I was living in for a while was in the direct damage path but similarly to you it shifted and missed although some of my friends were not as lucky some just had minor roof damage while one had their house absolutely destroyed luckily that house was being renovated at the time so no one was there
Dang! It’s been almost 3 years since this happened! I remember coming home from work and basically being either right next to it before it went back up right below the Legends Outlet. My brother and his friends were storm chasing it and I was playing a game until I thought I heard the nearby freight train until realizing it no way a freight train can last that long with a rumbling noise.
while I lived in Lawrence at the time I was visiting family I walked into the living room and saw on the news what was happening never before had I ever felt so terrified for other people, because I knew many of them were in its path it did shift tho lucky for me not so much for others and my heart goes out to all who were affected
I remember that day, my daughter and I were at the cemetary, and we turned on the radio in the car. The next day the headlines in the paper showed a mile wide tornado.
Oh my god reliving that nightmare I live in ks city no I remember that evening i heard sirens and looked out the window and saw it right on top of us I took shelter thankfully was not hit but a lot of my city was
