Storms in Kansas
Meteorology students track tornadoes and die in accident
The tornado caused a lot of damage in Wichita: a firefighter next to a completely destroyed house with a car hanging from it
© Travis Heying / the Wichita Eagle / DPA
They wanted to experience tornadoes up close and had a fatal accident on the way back from such a storm-chasing trip. Three meteorology students died in Kansas over the weekend.
Three meteorology students have died in an accident on their way from a storm-chasing trip in the US state of Kansas to neighboring Oklahoma. Your car skidded on a wet road in the Kay district on Friday evening and was hit by a semitrailer, the broadcaster CNN reported on Saturday evening (local time), citing the highway police. The scene of the accident was only 105 kilometers from Kansas’ largest city, Wichita. A violent tornado caused extensive damage in the region on Friday. Several people were injured in the process.
The three men, aged between 19 and 21, were students at the University of Oklahoma Meteorology Institute, CNN continued. The trip was not made with the support of the institute, a spokesman for the university told the broadcaster. One was “deeply affected,” said a statement from the university.
Tornadoes wreaked havoc in Kansas over the weekend
According to the National Weather Service, more than a dozen tornadoes were reported in Kansas and neighboring Nebraska on Saturday night. A violent tornado with estimated wind speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour first hit the region south of Wichita on Friday evening and later moved northeast.
Andover, a Wichita suburb with around 15,000 residents, was particularly hard hit. There were around 1,000 buildings in the path of the storm, reported the local newspaper “Wichita Eagle”, citing Andover fire chief Chad Russell. According to initial estimates, hundreds of buildings were damaged. The site will “be impacted for years to come,” Russell said.