BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — Officials say 25 people were injured and dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed by a tornado in the southeastern Kansas town of Baxter Springs.
Southeast Kansas Incident Management Team spokeswoman Kari West said late Sunday night that one person died, but it was not clear whether the death was related to the storm.
West said nine of the injured were taken to area hospitals. Their conditions were not immediately available.
West said that search and rescue crews had gone through all of the damaged properties more than once, and everyone was accounted for.
The tornado struck around 5:45 p.m. and was roughly three blocks wide, cutting a diagonal through the town of about 4,200 people.
Kansas Adjutant General’s Office
9 p.m. A tornado struck the community of Baxter Springs in Cherokee County at approximately 5:46 p.m. Sunday evening, April 27. Jason Allison, Cherokee County emergency manager, reported the tornado was estimated to be three blocks wide running southwest to northeast. Sixty to 70 homes and 20-25 businesses are reported destroyed. Search and rescue efforts are underway.
Gov. Sam Brownback gave approval for a State of Disaster Emergency proclamation at 6:30 p.m. The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka was partially activated at 6:50 p.m. to coordinate the response of state agencies. Personnel from the Kansas Division of Emergency Management are in contact with Cherokee County emergency management officials to respond to requests for assistance. Both the Northeast and Southeast Region Incident Management Teams are mobilizing to go to Baxter Springs and assist local authorities.
In Hammond, five miles north of Fort Scott in Bourbon County, a grain elevator was blown over onto a rail line, derailing eight train cars. Six homes were also damaged, but no state assistance has been requested.
7 p.m. BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — Officials in the southeast Kansas town of Baxter Springs say several people have been injured by a tornado that also caused extensive property damage.
Cherokee County sheriff’s dispatcher Josh Harvey says no deaths have been reported. First responders from multiple agencies were going to house to house assessing damage and looking for those injured by the tornado that struck shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Baxter Springs has about 4,200 residents. It’s located six miles north of Quapaw, Okla., where a tornado struck around the same time. Two deaths were reported there.
Authorities were turning people away from Baxter Springs during the search-and-rescue operation.
Numerous funnel clouds and at least two tornadoes were spotted in southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri on Sunday.