May 28 Tornado

STORY BY HARLEIGH MOORE »

May 28, a tornado, classified to be an EF4 by the National Weather Service, made its way through parts of northeast Kansas. Starting just
12.5 miles northwest of Baldwin, the tornado made its 32 mile long journey ending near Bonner Springs.

People from Eudora took shelter as they received warning about the tornado emergency while people from Linwood, like Emery Johnson, Fr., were outside watching the storm form.

“We were all kinda just outside,” Johnson said, “like normal things that people do.” As they were watching the storm, they learned that the storm had made a slight turn and was now heading toward them, meaning the countdown was starting.

“So that means we have 10 minutes,” said Johnson.With no other options left, she and her family sought shelter and attempted to wait out the storm. In the moments leading up to the tornado hitting, Johnson was ending and receiving messages from her friends. Most were aware that she was in the path of the approaching storm and simply wished her the best and continued to make sure she was safe and had taken shelter.

“It was kind of scary because we didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” said Johnson.

Cael Lynch, Jr., was fishing with friends an hour before the storm. As it started to rain, he received a text from his mom telling him to get inside and go downstairs. Looking outside first, Lynch saw the transition from grey to pitch black.

“It looked like a mountain was coming for us,” said Lynch.

He remembered it as being extremely windy as debris flew through the air and the rain fell hard. Cael, his friends, and his dog, Tinsel, all went downstairs into their tornado shelter to take cover.

“It sounded like we were under a railroad track,” Lynch said.

Sophia Sandstrom, Soph., says that she also heard the tornado and also described it as sounding like a train going by. Sandstrom took shelter that day at her neighbor’s house in the corner of the basement with the neighbor and her family. Packed in tight with a mattress over their heads and blankets around them, Sandstrom held a little girl who cried in confusion.

After the storm passed, Sandstrom said that there was trash and debris everywhere in the weirdest places. In the days following the storm, Sandstrom and her parents spent their time at the fire station helping other families that needed it. Sandstrom said that she “would get up at 6 a.m. and we would go down to the fire station and we would sort through all of the donations that would be given”

“My dad would go out with his four wheeler and he would help the guys take down the trees that were around the neighborhoods,” Sandstrom said.

Today, the houses and buildings in the town of Linwood appear undamaged, but everything north of Linwood and along the road leading into the town still needs to be repaired. The recovery process might take time but the town of Linwood is slowly getting put back together.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen next but at the same time I was relieved because I was alive and me and my family were safe,” Johnson said.