Tornado rips through Kansas, causes severe damage

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A tornado that barrelled through parts of Kansas destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and buildings, injured several people and left more than 15,000 people without power, officials said Saturday.

More than 1,000 buildings were affected when a strong twister swept through Andover on Friday evening, according to authorities. In the daylight Saturday, emergency crews found a more widespread path of destruction than was earlier estimated.

“We now know that our damage path extended approximately 3 1/2 to four miles to the north of where we believed it to have ended last night,” Andover Deputy Fire Chief Mike Roosevelt said at a briefing.

There were no fatalities or critical injuries despite the widespread destruction. Officials said only a few injuries had been reported. In Sedgwick County, three people were injured, including one woman who sustained serious injuries.

Search and rescue operations continued Saturday with more than 200 emergency responders from 30 agencies. Officials kept volunteers away from the damage until a secondary search of debris is done.

Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell said earlier that some neighbourhood homes “were completely blown away.”

There are homes knocked completely off their foundations and entire neighbourhoods wiped out, Russell said.

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