What can we learn from the F-4 tornado that struck Haysville 25 years ago?
6 March 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – With severe weather season approaching, it is time to know where to take shelter. When you receive a warning, do you know where to go?
One meteorologist, Craig Ceecee, Ph.D, has been building a user-friendly map of storm shelters in the United States.
“I’d like to see shelters at as many places as possible that have vulnerabilities. It varies by area, but if there’s a lot of mobile homes or if people are outdoors a lot, that’s a significant vulnerability.”
Ceecee has been working to find funding while teaming up with emergency managers to get more public storm shelters built. He has mapped out more than 1,800 shelters and says despite large gaps between locations, the placement of new shelters will be a challenge.
“It’s hard to place them because you can’t have them every mile,” he said.
Sedgwick County Emergency Management director Julie Stimson says there are no public shelters at the county level. The reason is not to put people in danger.
“We don’t want people getting into their vehicles and going out into the elements of the storm. There’s no guarantee that the shelter is going to be unlocked. There’s no guarantee that the shelter is going to be cleared out.”
She adds that some cities and towns will have a designated shelter area.
“I recommend folks just get to know your neighborhood, get to know your cities to know where is that safest place for you to seek shelter,” she said.
Most mobile home parks will have a safety shelter within the neighborhood and should be used if a tornado is approaching.
With constant traffic through the Sunflower State, Stimson knows that severe weather may impact someone not from here. She wants to drive home that a tornado is not the only reason to take shelter.
“There’s a lot of storms that have straight-line winds, hail, and heavy rains that are just as dangerous as tornadoes. If the wind isn’t spinning, there can still be damage and injuries from regular, garden variety thunderstorms.”
Dr. Ceecee’s website shows where to find the closest storm shelter. Here is a direct link to the map.
As soon as July, there will be changes to shelters on the Kansas Turnpike. The shelters will go away at the individual toll booths as the Turnpike goes to cashless tolling. Those were meant for employees. There are still shelters at all six service areas along the highway.
For more stories on Severe Weather Preparedness, click here.