Tornado season

It's been a bad tornado season already, and last night I heard the awful news about a tornado that hit a Boy Scout camp in Iowa. Four were killed.

Just a few minutes ago I heard from my mother that a tornado hit Manhattan, Kansas. "The little apple" is home to Kansas State University... and my sister and two nieces. Thank god they are all fine. Sounds like tornadoes also hit around Salina, Kansas, where I also have family.

Scary.

The Manhattan Mercury's website is experiencing problems, but they have this notice posted:

A tornado between two and four blocks wide touched down near the Manhattan Regional airport late night Wednesday and bounced across Manhattan, the Kansas State University campus, and then went back up into the clouds near Moore Hall on the campus. It inflicted tens of millions of dollars of damage -- at least $20 million on the campus alone, authorities said.

Officials say there are no reported deaths but are continuing search-and-rescue efforts. A shelter is set up at Pottorf Hall in CiCo Park for those displaced. The Red Cross is assisting; the National Guard is also being called in. FEMA is on site.

No confirmed totals are available, but 30 homes in the Miller Ranch area -- in the southwest portion of the city -- have been flattened, with only foundations remaining. Many more are severely damaged. The University Heights area near E.J. Frick Drive was also hard-hit.

Business in the area of Amherst and Seth Child Road were hit; Waters True Value Hardware was destroyed. The sign from that business crashed through Gymnastics Plus, just to the east. The owner of Waters says they will rebuild. At Little Apple Toyota-Honda, windows were blown out and cars flipped over. The structure is still standing. The Aztec storage facility was heavily damaged, with property strewn for great distances.

Some looting has been reported in that commercial area off Amherst; two people have been arrested, police said.

On the campus, there was major damage to numerous buildings. A tornado touched down on Durland Hall, the engineering building, with heavy damage to the following: Ward, Moore Hall, Durland, Umberber, Fiedler and Cardwell. K-State police chief Ronnie Grice estimated damage at KSU at $20 million. President Jon Wefald has driven to Topeka to brief the Board of Regents this morning. Classes have been called off for the day. Facilities workers were asked to come to work; new student orientation was moved to Bramlage. Power was out on the main campus this morning. There was major tree damage.

There were 1,900 homes still without power this morning.

Cleanup was expected to take days.

Both U.S. Senators from Kansas, as well as Gov. Sebelius, are expected here tonight.

The same storm devastated Chapman, about 30 miles west of Manhattan. One person was killed there. Authorities are estimating 60 to 70 percent of the community was damaged.

The Mercury is continuing to follow the story and will publish photos as soon as possible. Our website is experiencing some problems; please be patient with us.

Here's a link to a pic of the Derby Complex, the five building dormitory that I lived in from 1984-85 and which includes Moore Hall, the building cited in the Mercury story as the location where the tornado left the ground.