Dramatic video footage captured a powerful tornado that damaged 1,000 buildings in Kansas but “miraculously” left no fatalities in its wake.
The amazing video was captured and shared by meteorologist Reed Timmer, whose drone video showed debris flying through the air as the EF-03 tornado tracked through the city.
Video of the tornado has gone viral and has now been watched by more than 3.2m people.
Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell fought back tears as he said that residents of the city suffered only minor injuries, and that the storm could have been far more serious.
“The injuries in Andover were all minor injuries, so they were treated and released,” Russell said of the Friday storm.
“We had four, and two of those were firefighters involved in the efforts last night, and everyone was stable.”
And he added: “Well, I tell you, I’m going to try not to get emotional about that one.
“It’s absolutely a miracle. I’ve been to a few of these, and to have the damage that we have in our community and not have deaths, is just a miracle.”
Chief Russell thanks the community’s neighbours for rushing to support the city, which is a suburb of Wichita, where dozens of buildings are flattened.
“We’re a small community, and we could not have done the emergency response we did without our neighbors coming to help. The entire region came to help, so we thank them so much.”
Officials have confirmed that three University of Oklahoma meteorology students traveling back from storm chasing in Kansas were killed in a crash Friday evening.
Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas; Gavin Short, 19, of Grayslake, Illinois; and Drake Brooks, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, died in the crash, according to Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Authorities say the vehicle they were in on I-35 hydroplaned and was hit by a tractor-trailer 85 miles north of Oklahoma City.
