(Photo: Travis Heying, AP)
MANHATTAN — Severe Weather Awareness Week kicks off on Monday as the changing of the seasons draws closer.
Among the activities, emergency management coordinators are busy educating the public. That includes a statewide tornado drill happening at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Riley County Emergency Management Coordinator Laurie Harrison says it’s a good reminder for everyone to stay alert.
Because of the statewide tornado drill Tuesday, the monthly tornado siren test Monday won’t take place. Harrison explains why everyone should have a severe weather safety kit on hand.
According to the National Weather Service in Topeka, in 2018 there were 353 total severe wind, hail and flooding reports in northeast and east central Kansas. Perhaps none was more devastating than the Sept. 3 Wildcat Creek flooding which caused more than $17 million in structural damages in Manhattan and displaced over 300 people from their homes.
Fifteen tornadoes were reported in that region including an EF-3 tornado May 1 in Ottawa County. That storm also produced softball sized hail (4 inches in diameter). Altogether Kansas saw 45 total tornadoes in 2018 which was 17 below average. There were no tornadoes reported in Riley, Pottawatomie or Geary counties in 2018.
Harrison also encourages people in Riley and surrounding counties to sign up for the Everbridge Emergency Notification System to stay on top of severe weather.
Other entities are also ramping up awareness. Fort Riley Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Hallenbeck says having everyone on base prepared in the event of severe weather is key since they have such a transient population. He explains Fort Riley’s emergency notification system.
Another place that has people coming and going is Kansas State University. K-State Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Bear says they handle the statewide tornado drill a little differently.
K-State also pushes its emergency notifications to various social media sites including Twitter and Facebook whenever they are activated. Bear says this helps to ensure they’re reaching as many students as possible.
Since 1950, Riley County has had 29 reported tornadoes, Pottawatomie County has had 34 and Geary County has seen 19 tornadoes. Those have accounted for a total of 59 injuries and just one death, which was reported in Pottawatomie County. Kansas has seen a total of 4,699 confirmed tornadoes since 1950.
