SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 245 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1200 AM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
RENO
RICE
MCPHERSON
HARVEY
KINGMAN
SEDGWICK
SUMNER
———
THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORM FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH VALID UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS IN OUR SERVICE AREA
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS:
EDWARDS,
KIOWA,
PAWNEE,
PRATT
STAFFORD
he National Weather Service in Wichita has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for…Central Sedgwick County in south central Kansas…
Southeastern Harvey County in south central Kansas…until 5:45 PM CDT.
* At 456 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Goddard, moving northeast at 35 mph.
HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
* Locations impacted include…Wichita, Newton, Park City, Valley Center, Bel Aire, Goddard, Maize, Halstead, Sedgwick, Colwich, Garden Plain, Downtown Wichita, Kechi, Andale, Bentley, West Wichita, Eisenhower National Airport, Northeast Wichita, Lake Afton and Jabara Airport.
This includes Interstate 135 between Mile Markers 6 and 28.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1000 PM CDT for south central Kansas.
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
The National Weather Service in Wichita has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Harper, southeastern Kingman and west central Sumner Counties in south central Kansas until 4:30 p.m.
A severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles west of Manchester, or 11 miles southwest of Anthony, moving northeast at 35 mph.
HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts and quarter-sized hail.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
*Locations impacted include…Anthony, Harper, Argonia, Norwich, Milan, Danville, Waldron, Freeport, Runnymede and Crystal Springs.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 10:00 p.m. for south central Kansas.
For your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two people were arrested just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday after a Hutchinson police officer learned a woman with an outstanding warrant was at a local storage facility in the 1000 block of North Halstead.
The officer arrived and found a male driver and Aly Gibson, aka Amanda Woodmansee, in a white pickup truck. The officer made contact and attempted to place Gibson in cuffs, but she was able to get loose and run from the area. An unsuccessful attempt was made to taze Gibson, however, she was eventually placed in custody after a brief chase.
A K-9 officer was utilized to search for drugs and officers discovered a black bag containing methamphetamine, needles, baggies and a scale.
Gibson was arrested for drug distribution charges as well as felony interference, aggravated escape from custody and the two outstanding warrants. Her bond was set at $26,500.
The driver of the truck, 38-year-old Brian Jung, was arrested for distribution charges. He has a bond of $17,500.
Both will be back in court on May 31.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 54-year-old man is jailed on a $105,000 bond for a charge of aggravated arson after it was determined that a fire in his room at the Sunflower Motel in Hutchinson was intentionally set.
In court Friday morning, Edward Love pretty much admitted that he used a cigar to start the room phone on fire. Firefighters responded to the scene. Love said he put the fire out and opened the window to let the smoke out.
There were 14 other occupants of the motel at the time he set the fire. His bond was set based on that number.
This occurred around 11:45 a.m. Thursday.
Love has prior convictions from Lyon County for criminal damage to property. He will be back in court May 31.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There seems to be no end to the flooding and severe weather hitting this area. There is a reason all of the severe weather seems to be impacting this part of the country.
Jake Sojda, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, explains it is an unusual weather pattern and it all has to do with the weather to the southeast and west.
“We have a huge dome of high pressure over the southeastern United States. That is a really hot area right now and will be hot through the Memorial Day weekend,” Sojda said. “Now on the flip side, on the west coast, we have this large pool of cold air that just keeps sticking around there partly because of the hot air to the east.” He says it has nowhere to go.
That means those of us who live in the middle of the country are stuck between the two air masses of warm and cold air. That’s why we have such an active weather pattern.
Sojda adds that this is a pattern that may hang around for at least a little longer, possibly through the middle of next week.
PRATT, Kan. — A recent media story indicated that the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management had spent $75,000 on a robot and drone system.
Pratt County Sheriff James White says the story is incorrect and wants to make sure that the public knows they priced several options and declined them because of cost. However, he says they were able to purchase a robot system. The company also provided a drone package at no extra cost.
The sheriff’s office was able to purchase a Transcend Tactical Robot with extra systems for use by the sheriff’s office, police and fire departments, EMS and Emergency management in emergency events for $22,500. The company provided a DSLR Mavic 2 Dual Drone for no extra cost.
The drone system is valued at $4,000. Emergency Services has been asking for a drone system. The system is especially needed since the county has experienced so much flooding in the last year.
The drone has a thermal and regular camera for search and rescue. The robot is a tracked system with an FLIR pan tilt zoom camera and thermal imaging for operations.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The police department is holding a one-day youth academy for students entering 9th grade this next school year. It will be held June 18.
The youth academy is for students who are interested in law enforcement or just want a better understanding of what police officers do. It’s a great way to get a more hands-on experience.
The academy is a full day, free for the participant and includes lunch.
Application packets are available at the police department or by emailing thad.pickard@renolec.com.
There is a waiver that needs to be notarized, but supervisors at the police department are notaries and can help complete the process for free.
Police officials say they are always excited to be involved with young people and believe that this will be a fun and exciting way to interact with the future of our community.
Slots for the academy are limited, but if there is enough interest, more dates will be made available this summer.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The City of Hutchinson has several storm sewer outfalls that are completely submerged because of flooding to the Arkansas River.
The current forecast predicts 3.5 inches of rain to fall in Hutchinson between Thursday and Saturday morning. For a small portion of the city, there is nowhere for additional rain to go.
City officials say they are installing additional pumps in high-risk areas to lessen the impact, however, this will not mitigate the flooding completely.
The city has delivered a pile of sand and a pallet of empty sandbags to Avenue C between Main and Walnut for use by Hutchinson residents.
A volunteer will be there to hand out empty sandbags. When possible, the volunteer will assist those not able to fill the sandbags themselves.
Officials advise residents to bring a shovel and help themselves to the sand.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There are a number of homeowners that have reached out to Interfaith Housing and Community Services saying they need to paint their home but can’t do it themselves because of age or disability.
Jeff Thompson, Director of Community Revitalization for Interfaith Housing, talked about the “Brush Up Hutch Program” to help those in need. Thompson says he needs the community’s help.
“Normally, I’m getting inbound phone calls at this point from churches and organizations in town saying, ‘we would like to get back out and serve the community and give back a little bit,’” Thompson said. He says they’ve become overwhelmed with houses to paint and have not had any groups step up to help.
“These are all folks that are in need. They’re not folks that are going to be sitting on the porch that are capable of painting their own house watching you do it,” Thompson said. “They just can’t get it done themselves.”
If you or your group would be willing to help your neighbor get their house painted this summer, contact Thompson by calling 620-662-8370, extension 720, or through the Interfaith Housing and Community Services website.
This would be a good project for church and civic groups in the community.
