Storms ravage Midwest

May 27, 1996
Web posted at: 12:00 p.m. EDT

LEE'S SUMMIT, Missouri (CNN) -- Eight tornadoes touched down in Kansas, while high winds in Oklahoma knocked a coal train off its tracks during a Sunday afternoon of storms that wreaked heavy damage on the Midwest. (425K QuickTime movie)

Rain and lightning continued early Monday while victims of the weather began assessing damages and initiating repairs. Thunderstorms in parts of the nation could spawn some tornadoes and produce large hail and strong winds.

On Sunday, winds of up to 125 mph swept through a subdivision in Lee's Summit near Kansas City. The microburst, a violent down draft, happened without warning.

The winds forced 200 people to seek shelter at a nearby church. Thirteen homes were destroyed and about 100 damaged. At least 10 people were injured, none seriously.

Two tornadoes were confirmed in west central Missouri, damaging trees and structures. No injuries were reported.

In Kansas, the tornadoes were accompanied by wind gusts of 90 mph and baseball-size hail. Trees and cars slammed into houses, and the second stories of many homes were blown off.

Six of the Kansas tornadoes touched down in southwest Kansas, where several farms were damaged. A power outage left about 4,000 Topeka residents without electricity for 20 minutes.

In northeastern Oklahoma, a tornado overturned several cars of a Union Pacific coal train near Nowata.

"We've got a lot of tore up houses, 12 cars overturned south of Nowata and some damaged barns," sheriff's Deputy Daniel Burruss said.

There were no reports of tornado touchdowns in Oklahoma City, but the city was buffeted by heavy rains, softball-sized hail and winds up to 70 mph.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related stories

• Main Weather page
• Dust blows where wheat crop should be - May 2, 1996
• Wheat Belt drought taking heavy toll - April 26, 1996

Related sites:

• National Weather Service
• NWS Interactive Weather Information Network
• The Weather Visualizer (University of Illinois)
• Weather Net (University of Michigan)

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