Tornadoes In Kansas on Christmas Day
Christmas has come and went, and not everywhere in the country did it go off without a hitch. We often advocate tornado safety outside of peak tornado seasons, and there can not be a better reason to get a safe room than the unexpected tornadoes that hit Christmas day in Kansas. The National Weather service noted that there were three tornadoes all rated EF-0 in Rush County, Kansas. The tornadoes struck Dodge City at 9:45 a.m. and ran for six miles between Dodge and Ensign. The peak wind speed during the six mile travel was 70 miles an hour. This was actually the strongest tornado in southwest Kansas was peaked at 80, and another at 75. There is still more information coming , and they were all relatively small tornadoes. Luckily, no injuries were reported and this is mostly credited to Kansas residents being prepped for tornadoes due to their location and the frequency of twisters in the area.
The Damage
Some recorded information about the tornadoes includes the damaging of resident property. The National Weather service reported a cattle building ravaged in Bucklin, and shortly after a horse shed was damaged in Greensburg. The tornadoes were staggered over two hours in the morning, and residual surrounding winds continued to cause damage throughout the state. Barns were damaged in Lincoln county, and severe thunderstorms wreaked their own brand of havoc in the surrounding areas. There were large tree branches strewn throughout the area, some as large as six inches. The storms kept winds blowing throughout the area, which carried debris wrenched by the tornado throughout the area. A silo and a gas tank were damaged in Alton on a farm, and several photos of damage throughout the area were shown in local news. Despite the commonality of tornadoes in Kansas the weather was decidedly strange during the holidays. Some weather stations reported temperatures as high as 67 degrees. Temperatures haven’t been as high as 65 since 1960 in Kansas. As expected however, there were over 1,000 homes left without power on Christmas morning due to the storm.
The Solution: A Safe Room or Tornado Shelter
It’s extremely unfortunate what happened in Kansas this Christmas, and our thoughts and compassion extend to the residents. We would also like to commend the residents of Kansas on their preparedness and ownership of safe rooms and tornado bunkers. Some areas in Kansas actually mandate them due to the ever-present danger of tornadoes. We’ve written before about the nature of tornadoes in the United States, and the statistics show they are present throughout the country. We highly recommend investing in a tornado shelter or underground bunker no matter where you live in the country.
We offer three different types of structures at Elephant Safe Rooms offers. The first being the safe room that can be installed in your home or outside, as an above ground structure. These safe rooms can also be shipped to you as a self-installation kit that is panelized and easy to install. This is the second option. The third and most safe structure that we offer is the underground bunker. The bunkers come in a variety of dimensions, and have the strongest deterrent available; they’re underground. If you have any questions about specifications or general information feel free to check out our website or call in for a free consultation!
