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Small tornado damaged mobile home:Widespread flooding causes additional damage throughout Bourbon County
While emergency officials were expecting heavy rains to flood the area Monday night, they may not have been expecting what else dropped out of the sky.
Initially, local officials determined straight-line winds caused damage to a mobile home in western Bourbon County. By late Tuesday, after further assessment, the National Weather Service in Springfield, Mo., determined that it had been a tornado. There had been no watches or warnings, other than for flooding.
Damages that were reported about 5:30 p.m. Monday near 20th Street and Indian Road near the Bourbon County State Park included a mobile home being moved about three feet off its foundation, several downed trees and a small metal shed that was destroyed.
"It cut straight from west to east across the county," Coop said of the storm. "Our National Weather Service contacts were concerned. Responders were out. Luckily there were no reported injuries."
Coop on Tuesday would not confirm or deny that a funnel cloud seen in a photograph taken by a citizen was what caused the damage at the mobile home.
Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office, Bourbon County District No. 3 Fire Department and Bourbon County Emergency Management officials responded to the area Monday evening and confirmed damages.
"We've been in contact with the National Weather Service to go back and look at the storm system to see if there was any rotation in that storm," Ballou said.
A photo that circulated after the storm hit shows what appears to be a funnel cloud. Coop said she later spoke with the woman who took the photo and determined it was taken closer to the Allen County line and not in the area of Bourbon County that sustained damage, which was "nowhere near Fort Scott."
National Weather Service officials confirmed later Tuesday that the storm that what caused damage was in fact, an EF-1 tornado.
John Gagan, a meteorologist with the NWS in Springfield, said the tornado dropped near the Bourbon County State Park at 20th Street and Indian Road just after 5 p.m. Monday.
"It was a very brief touchdown," Gagan said. "It was on the ground for maybe a minute or two. It had about a half-mile long path and winds about 90 miles per hour."
The tornado knocked down a few trees and shifted a mobile home a few feet off its foundation, Gagan said.
"It touched down and went right back up," he said.
Gagan said the NWS was able to label the storm as a tornado based on damage reports received from emergency officials and storm spotters in the area, photographs and eyewitness reports.
"The damage was most likely due to a tornado," he said. "Trees got uprooted. The NWS works with emergency management officials in the area. Pictures help out. It was the nature of the damage as well ... would infer there was a rotation. Looking at the damage pattern is very key. Eyewitnesses are very key, also photos. Spotters are our eyeballs on the ground."
Gagan said an EF-1 category tornado is any twister with wind speeds gauged at between 86 and 110 mph. The strength of tornadoes is rated on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale.
Coop said sirens were not activated in the area Monday evening because emergency officials were monitoring the weather closely and saw no indication or threat of tornadic activity. Outlying towns in Bourbon County have a separate storm siren system. Coop said the NWS and local dispatchers activate the storm warning systems.
"We get data directly from the NWS," she said.
Even when the sirens don't sound, residents should always be on the lookout and prepared during severe weather, Coop said.
"We all know this is Kansas and storms can turn nasty at any time," she said. "When I was out last night, I saw that most people stayed home, and that's the correct thing to do."
Coop said straight-line winds can be "just as deadly as a tornado."
Ballou said Bourbon County was not under any severe weather watches Monday until about 7:30 p.m., when a "significant weather advisory" went into effect in the northern part of the county.
"There were no tornado watches or warnings," Coop said. "There were thunderstorms and flash floods. What we were worried about last night was flash flooding."
While she couldn't confirm exactly where the photo was snapped, Coop said it "was not taken at the place where the storm damage was." She added it "may or may not have been part of the same cell that caused the damage."
Coop said the mobile home that was affected is a vacation home for a family that lives in Wichita and was not occupied Monday night. There were no injuries and no evacuations necessary.
Coop said fortunately there were no injuries reported during the weather outbreak.
More widespread damage was caused not by wind, but the amount of rainfall.
"The story is not that photo, but the significant damage done to unpaved roads and all of the debris," she said.
Coop said rivers in the area were high and some roads were closed due to flooding and she encouraged people who would be out driving soon to use precautions, especially in low areas near bodies of water. There were some reports of power flashes but no extended outages.
Coop said she has photos of all the Monday flood damage and plans to discuss with Bourbon County Commissioners soon about a possible disaster declaration following the flooding.
"There was massive, massive flooding on dirt and gravel roads," she said. "People should be extremely cautious ... Don't drive into standing water, especially on low-water roads. It's the typical caution after something like this. As the motto goes, 'Turn around, don't drown.'"
Coop said there was no hail reported during the storm but there was plenty of rainfall. She said Fort Scott received about four inches of rain Monday. About 5.5 inches of the wet stuff fell in Devon and more than seven inches was reported in the western part of the county, although Coop said that report was unconfirmed.
Warnings issued Tuesday by the NWS indicate a flood warning for the Marmaton River until 5 p.m. Thursday. Flood stage is 38 feet. At 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, the river was at 28 feet but expected to rise to 39.5 feet. At 40.5 feet, flooding will impact low-lying areas along Humboldt Street/Maple Road, Happy Hollow Road and Second Street on the west side of town.
There is also a flood warning for the Little Osage River at Fulton until 3 a.m. Thursday. Flood stage is 22 feet but the river was at 25.5 feet at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. The river is expected to crest at 28 feet.