Preparation is key as severe weather season looms – Miami County Republic

Its Kansas Severe Weather Awareness Week (March 2-6), and Miami County residents likely heard the statewide tornado safety drill that was scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 3.

Miami County Emergency Management and the communications division of the Miami County Sheriffs Office, in cooperation with the National Weather Service, moved the regular monthly testing of the outdoor warning sirens to participate in the statewide drill. The monthly testing normally occurs on the first Wednesday of every month.

Miami County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fleming said Miami County has 15 storm sirens, but he emphasized that, like all storm sirens, they are designed to be heard outdoors and not necessarily indoors.

In addition, the county also can set off four storm sirens in the city limits of Louisburg. The city of Paola has nine storm sirens, and Osawatomie has four, and those cities control their own sirens.

Fleming said the sirens have been strategically placed throughout the county in areas where people are likely to gather outside, such as campgrounds at Hillsdale Lake and mobile home parks. They are also located in rural communities, such as Hillsdale, Block, Fontana, Beagle and Bucyrus.

There were 89 tornadoes reported in Kansas last year, including one in Miami County, according to the annual severe weather awareness packet provided by the state Division of Emergency Management, National Weather Service and Kansas Emergency Management Association.

A majority of the tornadoes (56) took place in May. There were no reported fatalities, but one violent tornado, an EF4, began in Douglas County and crossed into Leavenworth County on May 28. Damage from the tornado was estimated at $26 million, making it the costliest tornado of 2019.

Damage from Miami Countys tornado was less extreme, but it was still devastating to local residents, especially the congregation members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Block.

The 2019 tornado ripped through the Block area in the early morning hours of Monday, April 29, and local community members awoke to find that Trinity Lutheran Church had been damaged.

No injuries were reported in the tornado, which began at 4:10 a.m. six miles east of Osawatomie and traveled for about two miles before dissipating at 4:13 a.m. eight miles southeast of Osawatomie, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials determined that it was an EF-0 tornado with winds as high as 85 miles per hour and a very narrow path that ranged in width from 10 to 50 feet. It was also labeled as a QLCS tornado, according to the severe weather awareness packet. QLCS stands for Quasi-Linear Convective System, and it is used to label tornadoes that form very quickly with little warning. They usually spin up with a line of storms, often called a squall line.

Officials said there was so much rain activity at the time, the tornado likely wouldnt have been visible.

Fleming and Miami County Sheriff Frank Kelly joined several congregation members at the church later that morning to assess the damage.

The roof was ripped off the southwest corner of the building, the flag pole was bent nearly in half and the church sign was a pile of rubble.

The damage also was extensive in the nearby cemetery, where several tombstones were toppled.

In addition to the damage at the church, Kelly said a large trailer was toppled and moved at a home near the church, and power lines were ripped out at another nearby home.

Jamie Bolling said she and her husband didnt have any warning when the storm tore through their rural property southeast of Osawatomie. They didnt even make it to the basement.

The powerful wind uprooted several trees, downed power lines, flipped a trailer, blew out the windows of their rock home built in 1868 and toppled their chimney.

Flooding was also an issue in Miami County during last years severe weather season.

Persistent, heavy rains in late May prompted flooding in low-lying areas along the Marais des Cygnes River in Miami and Linn counties and caused the city of Osawatomie to initiate emergency measures.

When the Marais des Cygnes crested at 40.27 feet mid-afternoon on May 22 in Osawatomie, it was the first time the river topped 40 feet at the community since the historic July 1, 2007, flood in which the river rose to 49.19 feet, according to National Weather Service data.

Osawatomie public works crews installed stop logs in the levees southwest gate about 3 a.m. May 22 to prevent rising water from entering town, former City Manager Don Cawby said later that morning.

During Severe Weather Awareness Week, local residents are encouraged to review their own safety procedures to make sure they and their family members remain safe during weather emergencies.

Fleming recommends that families have a plan of action for their home and establish a safe place that includes items like a battery-operated radio and shoes.

He also reiterated that community members cant always rely on immediate assistance following a disaster, which is why it is important to be prepared.

Part of that preparation is information, and Fleming encourages local residents to sign up for the countys emergency notification system. More information is available online by going to Miami Countys website at http://www.miamicountyks.org and clicking on Sheriff under the department tab.

Cell phone users should already be receiving Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) unless they have modified the settings on their phone or it is not carried by their provider.

Fleming also suggests that cell phone users download multiple weather apps to get reports from different sources, and he suggests using an app that tracks your location, rather than one based on a zip code.

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Preparation is key as severe weather season looms - Miami County Republic