MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Strong winds and storms forced crowds who gathered in a rural Kansas field for a symphony performance to evacuate and damaged a sorority house at Kansas State University.
About half a dozen tornado warnings were issued Saturday evening in eastern Kansas, The Kansas City Star reports.
Daniel Reese, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Topeka, said crews were on the ground Sunday morning, working to survey the damage, including downed power lines and trees, likely caused by a combination of tornadoes and straight line winds,
About 7,000 had gathered in a Chase County pasture for the Symphony in the Flint Hills, a popular annual event whose theme for 2022 was “Weather in the Flint Hills,” when the storms approached.
Manhattan turned out to be among the hardest hit areas, according to the weather service. Police there took reports of downed power lines and some damage to buildings, including the Chi Omega house.
At one point, more than 25,000 power outages were reported across Manhattan and nearby Marysville, Evergy reported.
Manhattan's Risk Reduction Division declared five structures condemned and unsafe to occupy. The structures were located in the McCain neighborhood area east of the Kansas State University campus. The two unoccupied Greek houses, Chi Omega at 1516 McCain and Kappa Alpha Theta at 1517 McCain Lane, and three single family homes in the area were severely damaged. Residents in the single-family homes were displaced but did not require assistance.
In Marysville, police chief Matt Simpson, said that while there was damage in the city’s downtown area, no injuries were reported.