Wichita/ Andover Tornado Video Compilation 3

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COUNTDOWN TO DISASTER: Chasing the Andover Tornado By Tim Marshall

Entering the Bear's Cage

The storm was heading northeast, on a direct course to Wichita. Local television stations were still warning of the tornado we had just witnessed. Radio scanners were buzzing with spotter reports about a new cloud "lowering" gathering over the town of Conway Springs.

There were no direct roads, so we lost valuable time by having to first drive east, then north. In the process, the storm beat us to the town. To keep pace with the storm Carson and I would have to enter "the bear's cage," the wrapping curtain of rain on the back edge of the storm that could hide a tornado.

My hands grew cold as we drove into the rain. The visibility dropped dramatically and strong north winds buffeted our vehicle. We turned east and in a few minutes the rain ended as we passed through the town of Clearwater. A large cloud lowering had massed on the east side of town. We came upon an open field where all the clouds came together. Suddenly condensation shot upward

from the ground about a mile to our southeast. "Multi-vortex tornado!" I shouted. Spotters immediately relayed their reports to the local National Weather Service office.

The tornado crossed the road in front of us and hit a house. The roof disintegrated and a plume of attic insulation was sucked into the vortex, appearing like smoke from a fire. In anger and disbelief, I witnessed the destruction of two more farmhouses. "Damn, another house just went down there," I muttered. Never had I felt so helpless. And other houses still lay in the storm's path.

Carving out a swath of destruction, the tornado ravaged homes in the northwest part of Haysville, then entered south Wichita. In seconds, homes disappeared from their foundations. Broken plumbing lines created water geysers were homes had once stood.

The tornado then turned east, striking McConnell Air Force Base and just missing rows of parked fighter planes. We tried to keep pace with the twister to no avail; it had toppled power poles across the road in front of us, cutting off our pursuit.

The town of Andover was next on its hit list. We could hear spotters frantically telling emergency officials to look to the southwest. A policeman in the town responded, confirming that a large tornado was bearing down on them. With no operational sirens, one officer tried in vain to warn residents of the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park on the edge of town to evacuate. Unfortunately time ran out for many of them at 6:35 p.m., when the tornado obliterated hundreds of homes and left scores of dead and injured.

Channel: Film & Animation
Uploaded: August 30, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Author: stormchaser3751

Length: 00:07:11
Rating: 5.00
Views: 958

Tags: tornado andover wichita kansas F5 twister weather severe storms wind environment

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Video Comments:
mskerripa (September 19, 2008 at 1:41 pm)
very intense vide0
TaintedCandy21 (September 6, 2008 at 12:10 pm)
whoa. that was some very intense and interesting footage. why was that guy out walking his dog, like nothing is going on???
stormchaser3751 (September 13, 2008 at 10:33 am)
Well, in Andover they tried to activate the sirens but they failed to sound. Despite that and orders from officers to take shelter, n o one headed the warning
FBSCommunications (September 2, 2008 at 6:52 pm)
I believe the 2t22 lost power at 3:45
stormchaser3751 (September 13, 2008 at 10:41 am)
It did
CoolBalla15 (August 31, 2008 at 9:06 pm)
The Thunderbolt sounds pretty scary.
stormchaser3751 (September 13, 2008 at 10:30 am)
It is
stormchaser3751 (August 31, 2008 at 4:30 pm)
Well, this was one of Kansas's sixth worst tornadoes on record
stormchaser3751 (August 31, 2008 at 4:28 pm)
Thanks
tornadochaser6 (August 31, 2008 at 9:51 am)
cool