Tornadoes Slam Into Oklahoma, Kansas; 28 Die

Tornadoes ripped through Kansas and Oklahoma on Friday, killing at least 28 people, authorities said.

Andover, a small town outside Wichita, was the hardest hit. A twister that damaged 500 homes there killed at least 22 people, Andover Mayor Jack Finlason told reporters.

“The southeast part of town, especially the mobile home park, is completely leveled,” the mayor said. “The injuries are too numerous at this point to assess.”

Two deaths were reported in Wichita and one near Winfield, Kan. Oklahoma authorities blamed tornadoes for at least three deaths in the northeastern part of that state.

Authorities planned to search through the night for victims at the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park in Andover. Debra Alfers, an official with Wichita’s Riverside Hospital, confirmed that there had been 22 deaths from the storm.

“There are still, we’re afraid, injured people trapped,” said Stan Cox, a Butler County Sheriff’s captain.

A 13-year-old girl in Andover reportedly was carried 400 feet into a tree, he said. The extent of her injuries was unknown.

Corrugated metal, insulation and other debris were wrapped around utility poles. All power was out in the town late Friday.

Gov. Joan Finney authorized National Guard troops and Kansas State Highway patrolmen to go to the Wichita-Andover area to assist local authorities.

In Oklahoma, a woman died when her car was swept off U.S. 64 in Pawnee County, west of Tulsa, by a twister, said Highway Patrol dispatcher Patrick Sawyer. Another person was killed near Westport, about 25 miles west of Tulsa. And a third person died when a tornado hit in Copan, a few miles south of the Kansas line, said Bartlesville police officer Larry Topping.

Cars in Copan “were rolled up like little balls,” Topping said.

Tornadoes also hit Nebraska and Louisiana.

Kansas lawmakers were ordered to evacuate the Statehouse because of storms heading for Topeka.

The Cowley County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that a twister killed a man near Winfield, in southeast Kansas, but he had no other information.

Harold Harris of Wichita watched a twister touch down on a farm northwest of town.

“We saw the tornado coming across the field,” he said. “A barn disappeared and it tore the devil out of the house.”

A sheriff’s official in Sedgewick County, Kan., estimated that up to 200 injured people were taken to hospitals.

A tornado touched down at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita about 6:30 p.m., causing a few minor injuries and heavily damaging the base hospital, community center, bowling alley, gymnasium and other buildings, said Sgt. Larry Dean of the base public affairs office.

In Nebraska, a tornado damaged houses, farms and trees south of Beatrice as thunderstorms and hail up to the size of golf balls pummeled the state’s southeastern, eastern and northeastern portions.

A twister battered Grand Isle in Louisiana. New Orleans area subdivisions were awash in floodwaters and heavy rain forced the postponement of the opening the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Intense storms pelted areas of Arkansas with large hail and knocked out power to thousands, officials said.