EF-4 tornado touches down near Lawrence, Kansas

An EF-4 tornado touched down hear Lawrence, Kansas and didn’t stop for 32 miles. 

The tornado damaged homes, took down power lines and injured at least 18 people. Thankfully, no one was killed. 

“I smile, and it’s just kind of a front, and then I walk away and I have my tears, but I know it’s just material things… it’s a house. We’re very fortunate we have a place to stay with our daughter and son-in-law, so it could be a whole lot worse,” Susan Levey, a homeowner in Kansas, said. 

Authorities have spent the last 24 hours surveying the land and cleaning up the damage. 

Officials searched more than 200 homes and found almost half of them are only lightly damaged. More than 40 homes sustained heavy damage though. They will take a second sweep through the houses. 

The tornado reached wind speeds of up to 170 miles per hours, and at some points, was a mile wide. 

The storm tracked to the western edge of Kansas City, Kansas, but didn’t do much damage. 

Debris flew into the runways of the Kansas City International Airport; travelers were forced to take shelter. 

These storms in the Kansas City area were the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service.