Survivor of the Andover tornado speaks out as we approach its one-year anniversary

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – It has been almost a year since an EF-3 tornado hit southeast Wichita and parts of Andover. One thing is clear following the devastation; neighbors step up to help each other.

KSN’s Chief Meteorologist Lisa Teachman went back to Andover to see how the city was rebuilding.

When a disaster like this happens, we see such an outpour of support from people, and that is what helps us get back on our feet. The scars are still visible, but the pride and sense of community are building Andover back better and stronger than before.

“We already went into that day with a little bit of that knot in our stomach that something could happen,” said Keri Korthals, director of Butler County Emergency Management.

Shortly after 8 on a late April Friday evening, the worst happened.

“As I’m driving home, the weather is getting worse, and the clouds are rolling in. the rain is pouring down,” said Shelby Carselowey, Andover tornado survivor.

A tornado developed over southeast Wichita and tracked to the northeast toward Andover, doing damage along its path.

“I know that one moment when I got that first report, they were saying there was an actually touchdown. It was moving into the city. I could feel the weight settling down on my shoulders. It’s really happened … we have taken a hit to one of our communities,” said Korthals.

Carselowey was weather aware, reacting and getting her family to safety quickly.

“Getting everybody downstairs, getting into one of our closets in our basement that has concrete around it, and probably five to 10 minutes after that, we feel the house shaking, and the tornado is going over us. It felt longer than it probably was. It felt like a minute was probably so less than that. Then waiting. A silence had gone over us. ‘Was it actually moving on? Do we still need to be worried?'” said Carselowey.

The night wore on, and in the days to follow, support from surrounding cities poured in, from fire to EMS and police.

“One of the odd things you have in a situation like this is where you hit a portion of the community, but not the entire community, is that you have one part of the city that is just living that experience day in and day out because they are in that neighborhood where they can see the damage, and see the impacts of the tornado, and the other parts of the city were completely messed. Their life has gone on as normal,” said Korthals.

Nobody was killed in this tornado – and only a few injuries were reported.

Emergency management says two things played a critical role in survival: the tornado was highly visible and could be seen for miles, and it followed days of advanced accurate weather forecasting.

Rebuilding is a long-term process and will take years in some cases.

“If you go through communities that have been impacted like this … especially some that had larger impacts like Greensburg or more, you see the scars from those storms for years. We’re hoping in a couple years’ time, it will be largely invisible to folks when they drive through,” said Korthals.

The YMCA is undergoing a transformation to remove the scars of the tornado, and homes are being rebuilt, even if the process is slow.

“There is still work to be done, unfortunately. Insurance issues to be had,” said Carselowey.

Carselowey and her family hope to be back in their house by the one-year anniversary of the tornado.

“It will be a great relief coming up on the next storm season,” said Carselowey.

This Kansas town is strong, resilient, and moving forward with the help of the community.

“We’ve gotten through some of the worst of it. Most everybody is in the process of rebuilding. We are optimistic and happy things are progressing, and the neighborhood is starting to look like the neighborhood we remember again, and I think it is a hopeful outlook,” said Carselowey.

Carselowey is already gathering her severe weather safety supplies and fine-tuning her emergency preparedness plan as this year’s severe storm season starts. She also suggests putting together a plan of your own, an emergency kit, and documenting it before severe weather strikes again.