First Images...

These are some of the first images I captured of the tornado. This was about 7:30 a.m. Already, there had been clean up started.


The pile of rubble in the middle of this scene is what remains of Waters True Value Hardware. They remodeled an old warehouse and opened last summer...less than a year ago. On the far left, totally unscathed, is Waters Rental. With less than 50 feet between the two buildings, it's hard to believe that the rental building was untouched! The yellow awning that you see on the right is part of the Midas Muffler Shop. The building has been condemned and will be razed and rebuilt.
This is a closer view of Waters True Value. Notice, the metal, wrapped around the guy wire of the light pole, as though it was paper. If you can, try to spot the water spouting from the center of the pile at Waters. (side note: last week, when we had bad weather and tornado warnings during the supper/early evening hours, the employees of Waters sought shelter in an area they thought was safe. One employee mentioned that the safe area they used was buried under the rubble. Had this storm hit during the business day, many people would have been injured or killed at all these businesses. As it stands, we had no deaths in our area, and few injuries. Most injuries are a result of the clean-up efforts)

This is Little Apple Toyota Honda. Notice on the right, the light pole, completely bent over...as is the stop sign. If you can tell, the glass in the front of the building (floor to ceiling display windows) is all gone.

A long shot of Little Apple Toyota Honda. The blue sign on the right used to have the Honda emblem on it - I heard that it landed in or on the building that houses Gymnastics Plus, which was behind the dealership. Don't know if you can tell, but slightly to the left, the Toyota sign was bent over, leaning backwards.

This is a car wash on the immediate right of the True Value. While it sustained damage, it was still standing. The warehouse behind it lost all its windows and doors. Further behind, you can see a flag pole, with the flag still waving. Behind that, a mass of debris is all that remains of Amherst Storage. Several people I know had things stored there. Unfortunately, it's mostly a total loss...and to top it off, the first night, the Riley County Police arrested 2 looters down there.

Metal siding found in the parking lot of a K-State building on Anderson Avenue. The siding was part of Waters True Value, which, in a direct line, was approximately 1/2 mile away

Debris litters a parking lot on Anderson Avenue. A lot of insulation has been strewn all around town. I have friends who live on the Northeast side of town, and they found paint chip samples on their lawn...several miles away from Waters True Value Hardware. People all over town are finding things on their property...from pictures to divorce papers, to cell phones. We are blessed to have several collection points, and hopefully these items will be reunited with their owners.

This is the fence line at Lee Street Elementary School. This is the only school that sustained any damage in the USD 383 school district. It lost a lot of windows and has a lot of rain damage. This side, where the fence is, had a lot of trees...they are gone as you can see. The school will be repaired and ready to open in August. (side note: today, when I drove by, there were few signs that a tornado had hit...the fence was completely cleaned, no debris remained, either. The only visible signs were the trees sheared off, and the big dent in the fence)